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By spinning off the Free2Play app business, the traditional Hamburg developer Tivola Games wants to finally focus on PC and console games.
It was less than four weeks ago that the Hamburg studio Tivola Games (“Simply cute games”) with Cat rescue story won the German Computer Game Award 2024 in the 'Best Mobile Game' category. Prize money: €40,000. Managing director Florian Bohn saw this as confirmation “we do the right thing” – the award gives energy and motivation. In July 2021, the federal government subsidized the project with €317,808 as part of the games funding.
At the weekend it was announced that Tivola's parent company – the listed Swedish Jumpgate AB – is spinning off the entire Free2Play mobile games business from Tivola. The package will go to the Danish publisher Trophy Games for a purchase price of 8.2 million crowns – the equivalent of around €700,000. Included in the price are 20 apps for iOS and Android Petventures, My veterinary clinic, Dog Hotel and that was an award Cat rescue story.
Tivola management justifies the measure by saying that the studio has gone through a transformation process. The focus has been on for some time 'Premium games for PC and console'.
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Tivola Managing Director Florian Bohn (formerly CEO of Travian Games in Munich and now CFO and COO at Jumpgate): “We no longer have the structures necessary to support Free2Play games and players. That's why we believe the portfolio finds a better home at Trophy Games. The divestment has no impact on the premium versions of our games for non-mobile platforms, which are created in cooperation with Nacon. The deal will provide us with access to capital, which will primarily be used to reduce debt and ensure the financial stability of Jumpgate.”
Tivola has existed since 1995 and has been part of Jumpgate since June 2021, as have other traditional German studios such as Funatics (Valhalla Hills) and nuclear (Dune: Awakening). There has been a restructuring of the management level in the past few months: Nora Klutzny and Oliver Ortlepp, who took over management from Hendrik Peeters at the end of 2022, have no longer been in office since the turn of the year.
According to the internship advertisement from April 2024, Tivola Games is currently employing “around 10 employees”.
Note d. Editor: The original article has been expanded and clarified with additional information.
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