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Press release:
Karlsruhe, Germany (February 7, 2023).
Gameforge, leading Western publisher of popular multiplayer online games, today officially announces its IndieForge publishing label alongside reveals of upcoming single-player games “Tiny Thor“, “Clicker Guardians“, and “Crimson Dawn“.

IndieForge is a new initiative from Gameforge aimed at fostering the growth and success of smaller, independent studios from around the world. As Gameforge gears up to celebrate its 20th anniversary later in 2023, it is utilizing its decades of experience and expertise to give these indie developers an advantage over the competition.

With IndieForge, Gameforge continues to build on last year’s achievements with titles like Trigon: Space Story and I See Red, which were the studio’s first forays into the realm of single-player, independent video games. The new publishing initiative also marks Gameforge’s first entry into the console sector, with Tiny Thor hammering its way onto the Nintendo Switch!

“2023 is an incredibly exciting year for Gameforge and we’re delighted to be kicking things off with this reveal of IndieForge,” said Noemi Feller, Vice President of Products at Gameforge.

“Having dipped our toes into the indie game waters with the successful launches of Trigon: Space Story and I See Red last year, IndieForge allows us to wholeheartedly enter the market as we continue to work with talented development teams and find more ways to deliver entertaining experiences to our players.”

“We are very happy with our first stable of studios and proud of the titles they’ve contributed to our new label, IndieForge,” said Peter Stein, Director of Business Development at Gameforge.

“Game development is a difficult endeavor at the best of times but with our partners, we are united in our mission to provide fun to players. We are a cabal of gamers first and a business second – we don’t care for genre or flavor or trends, we care for great playing experiences.”

About Tiny Thor
Play as the small but mighty Norse god of thunder in the retro-inspired Tiny Thor, a precision platformer from German indie developer Asylum Square. Unleash the “bouncy” power of Mjölnir as you adventure around Asgard, trick-shotting any enemy that dares to get in your way!

Encounter thrilling boss battles and tricky physics puzzles across more than 30 handcrafted levels, all lovingly presented in 16-bit pixel art from the veteran pixel artist Henk Nieborg (Spyro: A Hero’s Tail, Contra 4, Shantae series) and accompanied by a soundtrack from composer Chris Hülsbeck (Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Turrican). Character upgrades and unlockable challenge levels further allow players to test their Mjölnir mettle.

“We are thrilled to be a part of Gameforge’s IndieForge initiative, as there are so many smaller dev studios that want to share their games with the world and sometimes struggle with publishing,” said Jochen Heizmann, founder of Asylum Square.

“Partnering with one of the industry’s western leaders helps us ensure that more players will be able to know about this awesome indie game our team of six has been working on professionally for four years.”

An updated demo is now available to download for free via Steam in eight different languages including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese. Hammer Kid, an initial prototype exploring Tiny Thor’s gameplay concepts, will also be available in March 2023 offering new challenge levels.

Tiny Thor and its story about a small boy with a big responsibility (and a magic hammer) arrives in Q2 2023, available on the Epic Game Store and Steam for Windows PC, Mac, Linux, and also on the Nintendo Switch.

About Clicker Guardians
Becoming the most powerful guardian in all of the land has never been so easy in Clicker Guardians, developed by German indie developer Quantumfrog. Featuring idle and clicker gameplay, this casual, free-to-play RPG makes classic gameplay accessible.

Hack, slash, and craft your way through six different mystical endless incremental stages rendered in colorful 3D voxel style.

Defeat bosses with brute force and smart strategy, upgrading and choosing from a variety of companions, 50 skills, 80 weapons, and hundreds of items to come up with the character build and play style that best suits you. And that’s not all! Players can keep the fun going by giving themselves an additional challenge via the game’s endless dungeon mode, where they can unlock even more epic loot.

“Quantumfrog has won a number of major awards with different games in the last years, but this might be our biggest ‘win’ yet: We’re super happy that Gameforge has agreed to publish Clicker Guardians,” said Hendrik Rump, Founder and CEO of Quantumfrog.

“We always wanted to work with Gameforge and have maintained excellent relations over recent years—now we’re looking forward to tackling the final development phase and of course the release of Clicker Guardians together.”

Clicker Guardians enters early access in Q1 2023 on Windows PC on the Epic Game Store and Steam.

About Crimson Dawn
Unleash the hordes in Crimson Dawn, a dark fantasy roguelite that pits an auto-attacking protagonist against increasingly difficult waves of enemies that continuously change across various maps. Unlock new characters and weapons and watch the loot rack up in this satisfying Vampire Survivors-like.

Big risks mean big rewards, and only you decide how epic your quests will be. Complete challenges, then retire at the Inn. Gain the advantage needed to take on even stronger bosses by spending resources on new characters’ abilities or weapons upgrades.

The debut title from indie studio Purple Lake, Crimson Dawn has already enjoyed a fantastic player reception in early access, and currently sits at a “Very Positive” review metric on Steam. The game’s v1.0 launch will soon be available, welcoming many more players to enjoy its thrilling and addictive horde-battling gameplay.

Crimson Dawn launches in Q1 2023 on Windows PC, available on Steam. The game will also become available on the Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms later this year.

There will be more to come from these games soon, along with the reveal of an ambitious new title from a Canadian studio, so press and players are encouraged to stay tuned!

About Asylum Square
Founded in 2014 by Jochen Heizmann, Asylum Square is an independent games developer, based in the Black Forest in Germany. The team grew up with game systems like the Sega Master System, NES, and C64 and Heizmann founded the studio to create games he would have loved to play back then, sitting on the living room carpet. To achieve this, Asylum Square works together with very talented people and industry veterans including some of those involved in making those original, inspiring experiences.

More information about Asylum Square is available here: https://asylumsquare.com/.

About Quantumfrog
Quantumfrog is a multiple award-winning German game developer. Founded by Hendrik Rump, the Oldenburg-based digital agency made its gaming debut in 2011 with the complex browser sci-fi game Nanofights. In addition to leisure and incentive games, the creative 22-member team focuses with passion on the development of serious games, the use of augmented reality, apps with gamification approaches and, most recently, games on blockchain technologies. The studio serves all platforms with their games, from browser to PC, mobile platforms (iOS + Android) as well as games for consoles of all kinds.

More information about Quantumfrog is available here: https://www.quantumfrog.de/.

About IndieForge
IndieForge is Gameforge’s newest division and builds upon the publisher’s commitment to bringing highly enjoyable games to players worldwide beyond its popular lineup of massively multiplayer online games.

Partnering with exciting up-and-coming independent game studios from across the globe, IndieForge brings engaging, high-quality gaming experiences to market. The division’s portfolio currently includes space strategy roguelike Trigon: Space Story and top-down roguelite shooter I See Red, with more gripping titles set to arrive in 2023 and beyond!

To learn more about IndieForge, visit: https://store.steampowered.com/franchise/IndieForge.

About Gameforge
Founded in 2003, Gameforge is a leading Western publisher and operator of widely acclaimed Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) and browser-based game titles. Gameforge builds highly active and enduring global communities by supporting players through the greatest quality LiveOps, provision of localized content, engaging community management, and frequent delivery of meaningful updates.

Gameforge’s diverse portfolio of highly successful gaming brands provides different worlds with engaging experiences for players from all walks of life: core MMORPG titles Swords of Legends Online, AION, Runes of Magic, and Metin2, beloved anime MMOs Elsword and NosTale, strategy-focused browser games like OGame and Ikariam, along with indie titles such as Trigon: Space Story and I See Red.

More information is available on gameforge.com.