InnoGames adds Funatics to its Dusseldorf studio
Mass hire follows closure of Funatics, boosts mobile focused Dusseldorf team to 40 people
The original version of this story stated that InnoGames had acquired Funatics. This was due to InnoGames' official statement omitting the detail that Funatics had closed down prior to its team joining the company. We have changed the story to reflect that fact.
InnoGames has hired the entire staff of fellow German developer Funatics, bolstering the team of its fourth studio in Dusseldorf.
Funatics' is known for its work in the strategy and simulation genres, with Cultures and Valhalla Hills among its more notable games. The Oberhausen-based studio's entire staff and management team will join InnoGames' Dusseldorf office, which opened in September 2014.
Thomas Friedmann, co-founder of Funatics, will be studio director in Dusseldorf, taking over from Dennis Rohlfing, who will return to his focus on one of the three InnoGames' studios at its headquarters in Hamburg. Funatics' other founders, Thomas Häuser and Thorsten Kneisel, will be "game head" and "team lead art" respectively.
"With about 40 employees, the Dusseldorf studio is a cornerstone of our mobile strategy," said InnoGames CPO Armin Busen in a statement. "The Funatics team knows how to work in a cross-functional way; harvesting the power of small teams just like us. Thus, they fit perfectly into our studio strategy based on scalable and controlled growth on diverse gaming platforms."