People

Dirk Ringe

Dirk Ringe

Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder

Background
Studied mathematics in Mainz and Heidelberg

Last stop
Vice President, Executive Producer at EA Phenomic / Electronic Arts

Achievements
Shipped 4 defining AAA boxed games and 3 online services, managed a 100 people studio, was financially responsible for a profitable 20M+ USD business, successfully transformed Phenomic from a boxed game developer to a top browser/mobile studio. Co-founder of Phenomic, sold Phenomic to EA.

Awards and Honors
Best Studio 2011 (EA Phenomic), MMO of the Year (BattleForge), Deutscher Entwicklerpreis 2004 (Spellforce), VUD Gold Award (Spellforce, Settlers 3) and many more.

Volker Wertich

Volker Wertich

Creative Director, Co-Founder

Background
Self-educated Game Designer and Programmer, self-employed since age 14

Last stop
Creative Director at EA Phenomic / Electronic Arts

Achievements
In the industry for more than 30 years. Designed and developed over 20 games and expansions from start to end. Invented and created the original game for “The Settlers” and “SpellForce” franchises. Co-founder of Phenomic, sold Phenomic to EA.

Awards and Honors
Volker’s first game “Emerald Mine” was #3 Best Amiga Game of 1987, chosen by Power Play Magazine. Dozens and dozens of awards followed. Member of the Hall Of Fame of German Game Developer Awards.

Mark Novozhilov

Mark Novozhilov

Technical Director, Co-Founder

Background
Master of Science in Computer Science University of Trier, Germany
Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

Last stop
Technical Director at EA Phenomic / Electronic Arts

Achievements
A decade of experience in the games industry, shipped 4 boxed and 3 online games, built and lead the software engineer department of EA Phenomic with 20+ employees.

Awards and Honors
Best Studio 2011 (EA Phenomic), MMO of the Year (BattleForge) and more

Timm Schwank

Timm Schwank

Art Director

Background
Diplom Communication Designer, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences

Last Stop
Art & World Director at Deck13 Interactive

Achievements
Over 23 years of experience in the gaming industry. Helped successfully to build Deck13 Interactive as an international studio for 18 years. Co-created all original IPs and contributed to over 23 released titles.

Awards and Honors
Collaborated on over 50 international Awards and Nominees, among them Best of Show Nominee E3 2018 (Gameinformer), Best German Game 2017 (German Developer Award), Best German Game 2015 (German Computer Game Award) and many more