Travian Games

Travian Games GmbH, based in Munich, is a medium-sized German company in the software industry that has specialized in developing and marketing PC and browser games. Travian Games also acts as an international publisher for selected game titles. Since 2017, the largest company in the video game industry in Bavaria[2] has been a member of the BIU – Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software).[3] Moreover, Lars Janssen, CEO of Travian Games, has been serving as a board member of Game – the Association of the German Games Industry since 2018.[4]

Travian Games GmbH
limited company
Industrysoftware industry
SuccessorLars Janssen
FoundedMunich, Germany (2005 (2005))
Headquarters
Munich, Cologne, Hamburg
,
Germany
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsMassively multiplayer online games
Number of employees
190[1] (2020)
Website

History

In 2003, company founder Gerhard Müller and his team developed the first version of the strategy browser game Travian. The free-to-play game was released in the summer of the following year and renamed to Travian: Legends in 2015.[5] The game remains one of the world's most successful browser games to this day.[6]

Travian Games GbR was established in Munich at the beginning of 2005. In the fall of the same year, it changed to its current form: Travian Games GmbH. The original staff of four employees, including the founder's brother, Siegfried Müller, and his former school friend, Holger Miller, grew within just a few years to its current size of more than 190 employees. This expansion resulted in Travian Games GmbH becoming the largest employer in the games industry in Bavaria.[2] In 2006, their flagship game Travian already reached a million players.[6]

Due to the increasing number of employees and the focus on new developments, the company relocated to a larger office complex within Munich in 2008 and 2009.

In 2010, the company joined the Hamburg developer studio Northworks[7] which, with the support of the City of Hamburg's prototype sponsorship, had until then been able to launch two browser games on the market, including goalunited.

In the following year, Travian Games GmbH was awarded the Prize for the Best German Publisher by GameStar.[8]

Moreover, Travian Games acquired the majority stake in the Cologne developer studio Bright Future[9] in 2012. The company had already successfully worked with the studio two years previously to develop the magical garden simulation game Miramagia followed by the MMO browser game Rail Nation in 2013. Bright Future also worked with Electronic Arts on the successful PC game series FIFA Manager.

To mark the 10-year anniversary of the flagship game, Travian, which continues to be offered as Travian: Legends, the new browser game Travian Kingdoms was developed under the direction of company founder Gerhard Müller. The online racing game UnitedGP was also launched on the market in 2014.

Since the change in management in 2015, the company has been placing greater focus on developing and marketing PC games with strong multi-player elements, which aim to provide a community-driven gaming experience.[10] The strategic direction of the games developer shifted with the new managing director, Lars Janssen. Travian Games has since concentrated on its core business, developing its own browser games, but it has also expanded its international portfolio. The Bavarian games developer also became a third-party publisher for the massively multi-player online role-playing game Crowfall (ArtCraft Entertainment)[11] in 2016, and for the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium)[12] in 2017.

Travian Games became a member of the BIU (Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software) on 1 April 2017. The BIU (Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware e.V.) is the representative organization of the German computer and video game industry and also a sponsor of gamescom.[3] Moreover, the CEO of Travian Games, Lars Janssen, was appointed a board member of GAME in 2018, which acts as the association of the German video game industry, formed by a merger between the two predecessor associations, the BIU (Federal Association of Interactive Entertainment Software) and GAME (Federal Association of the German Games Industry).[4] As of July 2018, the company employs 265 people.[13]

Games

Travian Games has been expanding across the full breadth of the online gaming entertainment sector for years and is currently represented on the market with its seven live products: Travian: Legends, Travian Kingdoms, Rail Nation, Miramagia, goalunited LEGENDS, Shroud of the Avatar and UnitedGP, as well as two products in the closed beta phase. Products from the Travian Games portfolio are played in more than 200 countries around the globe and translated into up to 42 different languages. In this way, the company is able to reach more than 150 million registered and confirmed users worldwide. The products by Travian Games GmbH have also received multiple awards and are recognized for the long-lasting fun they provide.

Current games
  • Travian: Legends (strategy MMOG)
  • Travian Kingdoms (strategy MMOG)
  • Rail Nation (transport economy simulator MMOG)
  • Miramagia (magical gardening simulator MMOG)
  • Cheats4Hire (Story driven puzzle Game)
  • goalunited LEGENDS (soccer manager MMOG)
  • UnitedGP (racing simulator MMOG)
  • Crowfall (by ArtCraft Entertainment, sandbox royal conquest MMORPG)

[14]

Travian Games as a third-party publisher

In 2017, Travian Games announced its support for the Texan developer studio Portalarium in the release of the MMOG Shroud of the Avatar for the European market, as well as in South and Central America, the Middle East and North Africa. The online game was created by well-known game designer Richard Garriott.[15] Portalarium confirmed on November 28, 2018 that Shroud of the Avatar is no longer being published by Travian games.[16]

Travian Games GmbH acts as third-party publisher for the MMORPG Crowfall, which is set to launch in 2019. The game is being developed by ArtCraft Entertainment, based in Texas. The first client-based game in the company's history attracted around US$2.8 million, making it the most successful crowdfunding project in video game history.

Charitable commitment

Travian Games assumes social responsibility as part of various charitable projects. Since 2010, the company has been supporting GamesCampMunich – a conference for young students and those interested in the video game industry.[17] The company additionally became a sponsor for the Munich Children's Hospice Foundation in 2017. Not only does the company raise donations for the organization, it also engages in voluntary work for the charity.[18]

In addition, Travian Games GmbH uses green energy from Bavarian hydro-electric power plants. The supplier, Polarstern, is one of the Ökotest test winners; it supplies the electricity and supports a family in Cambodia in the construction of a micro biogas installation for each of its customers. This kind of installation changes the lives of entire families and promotes sustainability.[19]

Awards (a selection)

Travian Games

2011 Publisher of the Year

Travian

2005 Innovation Award for Browser Games

2006 Super Browser Game Award

2011 Browser Game of the Year

Miramagia

2011 Browser Game of the Year

2012 MMO of the Year

Remanum

2012 German Developers' Prize

2012 MMO of the Year

Wewaii

2009 Browser Game of the Year

2010 German Computer Games Prize

2011 Browser Game of the Year

Goalunited

2007 Best Browser Game

2007 Best Browser Game Graphics

Travians

2007 Browser Game of the Year

gollark: RotaryCraft is STILL actively worked on but stuck on 1.7.10.
gollark: Half the new stuff doesn't work for it, and you miss out on a lot, but also the old things you now need haven't migrated.
gollark: I guess 1.12.2 is the new 1.7.10.
gollark: Troubling.
gollark: Can it do scrölling nicely?

References
  1. Fröhlich, Petra (10 January 2020). "Die größten Spiele-Entwickler in Deutschland 2020" [The largest game developers in Germany 2020]. GamesWirtschaft (in German).
  2. "Goodgame bleibt Deutschlands größter Spielehersteller" [Goodgame remains Germany's largest game manufacturer]. GamesWirtschaft (in German). 27 September 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  3. "Travian Games GmbH wird Mitglied im BIU" [Travian Games GmbH becomes a member of the BIU] (in German). 5 April 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  4. "Nach Zusammenschluss: Mitglieder des game wählen ersten Vorstand des neuen Verbandes" [After merger: Members of Game choose first board of the new association] (in German). 30 January 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  5. "Travian wird zu Travian: Legends" [Travian becomes Travian: Legends] (in German). 31 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  6. "Games:Beim Metzger gestartet". Focus (in German). 25 May 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  7. "Travian Games übernimmt Investorenanteile an Northworks Software" [Travian Games acquires investor interest in Northworks Software] (in German). 4 March 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  8. "Deutscher Entwicklerpreis 2011 - Crysis 2 erhält fünf Auszeichnungen" [German Developer Award 2011 - Crysis 2 receives five awards]. GameStar (in German). 8 December 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  9. "Travian Games übernimmt Bright Future" [Travian Games acquires Bright Future] (in German). 20 January 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  10. "Travian Games benennt Lars Janssen zum zweiten Geschäftsführer" [TRAVIAN GAMES NAMES LARS JANSSEN SECOND MANAGER] (in German). 4 March 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  11. "Crowfall - Travian Games wird Europa-Publisher" [Crowfall - Travian Games becomes a European publisher]. GameStar (in German). 27 June 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  12. "Shroud of the Avatar: Travian Games wird Publisher von Portalariums RPG" [Shroud of the Avatar: Travian Games becomes publisher of Portalariums RPG] (in German). 7 August 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  13. "Deutschlands größte Spielehersteller 2018". GamesWirtschaft (in German). 2 July 2018.
  14. Travian Games
  15. "Travian Games and Portalarium Partner for Shroud of the Avatar as it Reaches Story Complete Milestone". 31 July 2017. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  16. "Travian Games no longer publishing Shroud of the Avatar". 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  17. "GameCamp Munich ist ausgebucht" [GameCamp Munich is fully booked] (in German). 12 May 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  18. "TRAVIAN GAMES ÜBERGIBT SPENDENSUMME AN DIE STIFTUNG AMBULANTES KINDERHOSPIZ MÜNCHEN" [Travian Games hands over donations to the Outpatient Children's Hospice Foundation Munich] (in German). 16 February 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  19. "Projekte weltweit: Polarsternkunden und die Energiewende in Kambodscha" [Projects worldwide: Polarstern customers and the energy transition in Cambodia] (in German). Retrieved 18 July 2018.
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