Promotion Software is one of Germany’s most recognisable game developers for more than 25 years. Having been founded by legendary game designer Ralph Stock (Mad TV) in Tübingen back in 1993, the studio remains headquartered in Germany’s southwest but also established a Berlin office in 2009. Under its core gaming label Sixteen Tons Entertainment the company is best known for the Emergency series, which in 2018 celebrated its 20th-year anniversary and has seen more than 100 releases across most of the popular platforms of the last three decades. The most recent entry in the series, Emergency HQ, is a free-to-play mobile title that has racked up more than 6 million players since its launch in 2018. Under the label Serious Games Solutions the group develops award winning serious games for major clients such as Siemens or Roche Pharma.
Phoenix Games was established in May 2019 with the mission to build a family of the world’s most talented games companies. Adding a developer with the experience of Promotion Software / Sixteen Tons is a boon for everyone involved in the group, with the studio joining Well Played Games ahead of further acquisitions due to be announced soon.
“Anyone in the games industry, particularly those in Germany, should be familiar with Ralph Stock’s incredible track record,” said Phoenix Games CEO Klaas Kersting. “To maintain such a high quality of output for so many years, in such a cutthroat industry, is no accident and speaks to his talent and commitment. We are beyond thrilled to welcome him and his teams into the Phoenix family and be given the chance to play our part in their next chapter.”
“My games companies are accompanying me for a really long time now, I have been growing them for more than 25 years – to join the Phoenix Games family is not a question of money, it is a question of trust,” said Ralph Stock, owner and CEO of Promotion Software and Sixteen Tons Entertainment. “I greatly admire what Klaas Kersting is building and am proud to be part of the Phoenix Games group from now on.”