When news of Piranha Bytes’ troubles reached us in early 2024, for many Gothic fans, it meant the end of an era. However, many stories have a sequel, and this case was no exception. Björn and Jenny Pankratz didn’t throw in the towel; instead, they returned as the independent, two-person Pithead Studio. We had the unique opportunity to speak with them about the background of this split, the challenges of developing games from home, and their new project – Cralon. What will this dark, underground adventure be like, and will we find the spirit of the old Piranha’s games in it? Enjoy the read.
First of all, I would like to thank you very much for agreeing to answer our questions. As Gothic Up, we have been following Piranha Bytes’ activities for years, and we also wrote about the creation of your studio. However, until now, we haven’t had the chance to speak with you about your work. When you agreed to do so at Gamescom 2025, I felt as if a milestone had been reached.
What made you decide to found Pithead Studio and make games as an independent studio after years of working in a larger team?
When we learned at the end of 2023 that things wouldn’t continue with Piranha Bytes, we were initially very disappointed, as we had already been working on a new project for several years at that point. So, we tried to develop a new perspective; we attended many events, looked at other projects, and talked to many people in the industry. That’s when we realized that a crisis can also be an opportunity. Since we still have so many ideas that could be brought to life, we decided to think on a smaller scale and continue working as a duo. Of course, every project involves risk, but it also has many advantages. The budget is nowhere near as high as for an AA game, and you have more creative freedom in the indie sector. In return, things are naturally much more compact now.
In 2024, you started out as a duo. Has the team grown since then? How many people are working on the project?
At Pithead Studio, purely for financial reasons, it’s still just the two of us. However, we outsource some tasks to external companies to lighten the load. This includes, for example, porting the game to consoles, QA [Quality Assurance], and individual 2D/3D assets.
How was Cralon received at shows (e.g., Gamescom)? What feedback did you receive from players and the media?
The nicest thing was that people played for quite a long time and got drawn into the game world. It quickly became clear that Cralon appeals to players who like to explore, collect things, look around, play slowly, and are curious about how the story continues. The game is rather less relevant for players who value complex combat systems, lots of action, and features typical of AAA games.
You are a married couple leading the studio—how do you divide professional and private responsibilities? Do you have any fixed rituals, such as “we don’t talk about work at home”?
Since we currently no longer have an external office, we work from home. This has the advantage that we achieve results very quickly, make decisions fast, and no longer have to waste time commuting. But it also has the disadvantage that we have to try very hard to respect the hours that belong only to family and leisure time. We have been working together for many years and complement each other very well in terms of knowledge. The division of labor can be well described with a metaphor from Star Trek: Björn is Scotty in the engine room, and Jenny is Captain Kirk.
Music: Will the soundtrack in Cralon feature any references to tracks from Piranha Bytes games, including Elex — your own music?
Since Björn is composing the soundtrack again, you will definitely hear our personal touch. This time, however, it will be a bit darker, matching the game.
What were the biggest challenges faced while working on the Game Design?
We certainly had to overcome a few challenges during this project. Among other things, we familiarized ourselves with a new engine (Unreal) and designed the game in a more compact and purist way, because we had to program all the systems from scratch. Setting the action in a mine helped us a lot, because the underground scenery allows for very good scaling of the world’s dimensions.
Drova: Forsaken Kin, Sword Hero. These are games (the second is still in production, but there is a playable demo) whose developers openly say that the Gothic series was a major inspiration for their development. Are you aware of these titles? Do you believe that a genre of “Gothic-like” RPGs is emerging before our eyes? Will Cralon be part of that?
To be honest, game developers have always come to us saying that the Gothic series inspired them. Even the developers of the The Witcher series once told us that Gothic inspired them, which is a great honor for us. However, the elements that each individual considers particularly interesting vary greatly. Sometimes it’s the merciless world of the game and its rough tone, sometimes it’s the ruthless monsters that don’t level-scale, or specific game mechanics that influence their own creations. Of course, Cralon will be something of its own. Because it is just the two of us now, we have consciously decided against a large open world and have taken games such as Arx Fatalis and Ultima Underworld as our main sources of inspiration. Just as an indie variant. The game will clearly focus on exploration and story, rather than combat and action. Nevertheless, you will certainly recognize some things in the dialogues and our approach to game development, since the game comes from our pen.
You mentioned that Cralon will feature game elements such as extensive dialogue choices, a quest log, and even individual factions. I think many players are interested in the latter, which is characteristic of your games. Will belonging to a faction mean that you can’t work for others (for example, as a member of the Old Camp in Gothic, you couldn’t join the Brotherhood of the Sleeper), or will it be a more “loose” form of cooperation (like the Thieves’ Guild in Gothic 2)?
We are not planning anything like a faction membership system, as it would probably exceed our time frame. However, you will encounter creatures of different factions in the world who have their own problems and stories, and you will be able to decide whether you want to help them and take their side or not. But you can also decide against it, because it is always important to us that what you do in the game is not irrelevant and has specific consequences.
How does your experience working on large games influence the way you manage processes in a small team now? Was it difficult for you to find your way in the new situation at the beginning of Pithead Studio?
The experience we have gained over the past decades has been a huge help. We can estimate much better how long individual processes take and what it means to implement certain features into the game. Without this experience, it certainly would not have been possible for us to implement such a game in a reasonable amount of time with so little manpower. We sincerely hope that players who enjoy discovering fresh stories in a classic setting will like the new concept and enjoy finding their way around an unknown, underground world.
Do you have any favorite anecdotes or funny memories from your time developing games at Piranha Bytes?
One story we always like to tell is about a colleague who needed a cross as a 3D object to decorate the landscape. Since he didn’t have one at hand, he took an entire church model and stuck it in the ground so that only the cross on the roof was visible. After a while, everyone was wondering why the game’s performance always dropped dramatically in that particular spot, until someone noticed that the problem was the church hidden underground. Such typical developer stories still make us laugh today.
In which language versions will Cralon be released? Is there a chance that players from Poland will be able to play your game in their native language?
Although localization is still ahead of us, a Polish translation of all texts is definitely planned. Voice recordings are currently planned in German and English.
On behalf of our entire editorial team, I thank you warmly for your answers. Is there anything you would like to say specifically to the Polish community?
Something we encounter particularly often is the extraordinary passion that Polish players have for their favorite games. These include LARPs, fan communities, modding and cosplay groups, and much more. The scale of this enthusiasm is absolutely unique; you don’t see it everywhere. Thank you very much for your support over the years, and don’t lose that passion.
