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Epic Games has opened a new studio in Cologne and it is led by the founders of former development studio Factor 5, as announced in a blog post on the Unreal Engine official site.
Factor 5 was the studio behind the Turrican and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron franchises. It was liquidated in 2011, and then rocked back onto the scene with the rights to the Turrican IP in 2017. Now, its latest venture is the integration into Epic Games’ new studio, to act ‘as part of the company’s expanding focus on emerging forms of interactive media and streaming technologies.’
Epic Games Director of Online Technology Julian Eggebrecht and Cologne Studio Director Achim Moller were the former president and CEO of Factor 5 respectively. They have previously worked with Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, as well as liaising with Nintendo and Sony as technology partners. So, they’re definitely in the right place at the right time for Epic Games.
‘At the core of Epic’s success are highly-skilled and passionate individuals,’ Eggebrecht said. ‘Germany is a nation at the forefront of technology and we look forward to extending our local presence as we fill newly created roles and hire exceptional talent.’
Epic Games has had a rocky week so far, with apologies and refunds for releasing a reskinned Fortnite item, and a class action lawsuit levelled at it for account security breaches. Still, I’m sure the Cologne studio will celebrate its official announcement, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over.
