ASCARON Entertainment GmbH
Overview
Ascaron is a computer game company headquartered in Gütersloh, Germany. The company was founded in 1991 under the name
Ascon by
Holger Flöttmann and has since then developed entertainment software for the German market, with games franchises like
Patrician,
Port Royale and
Sacred.
In August 2001 the company went into administration for the first time. However, the reestablishment of the company keeping all IPRs and brands made it possible for Ascaron to continue its operative business and to survive.
In July 2002, Ascaron expanded by opening a wholly-owned subsidiary,
Studio II Software in the University City, Aachen (Germany) and in September 2002, the first international office,
Ascaron Entertainment (UK) Ltd. with its main office in Birmingham, was founded.
After many years of continuity the company got into financial difficulties once more. According to a spokesman of Ascaron this was basically due to immense costs and extended time for the development of
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. In April 2009 the Ascaron Entertainment went into administration again. This time the company did not recover and negotiations began with "several well-known interested parties" to discuss a positive takeover.
In June 2009,
Kalypso Media acquired the majority of licenses and assets of company when the firm entered insolvency. Among the games titles acquired were
Port Royale,
Darkstar One,
On the Ball and
The Patrician.
On June 18, 2009 it was announced that fifteen former employees of Ascaron would be part of Kalypso's newly acquired studio
Gaming Minds Studios GmbH.
Contributed by
Isdaron 
(695) on Jul 30, 2001. [
revised by :
Charly2.0 (12983),
Indra was here... (13179) and
Jeanne (59631)].
