Former Wooga game developers have joined Sweden’s Snowprint Studios and opened a new mobile game studio in Berlin.
Wilhelm Österberg, formerly the head of studio at Wooga, will lead Snowprint’s Berlin development office. The company will focus on global mid-core titles, or those that are hardcore in nature but can be played in short time periods.
Österberg was most recently led Wooga’s mid-core initiative through Black Anvil. Wooga started Black Anvil as part of a plan to expand into hardcore mobile strategy games, but it shut the division last year.
“Snowprint is about talented individuals coming together in tight-knit teams with a shared passion for creating great gaming experiences,” said Alexander Ekvall, Snowprint Studios CEO, in a statement. “To get this right is a rare thing, so when we saw the opportunity to form a studio around Wilhelm and the talented people he has been working with, we knew it would be the perfect added element for Snowprint’s ongoing journey as we continue to explore uncharted territory in the mid-core landscape.”
Österberg will be the general manager and managing director at the new Berlin studio, where he will oversee game production and studio management. With over a decade of experience, Österberg has led game development teams at several companies, including Battlefield developer DICE. He most recently led development of Black Anvil’s first release, Warlords. The Berlin team will initially consist of eight members, all of whom previously worked with Österberg at Black Anvil.
“Alexander has gathered some of the greatest mobile game developers in the world to form Snowprint Studios. I’m proud to count my team among them,” said Österberg in a statement. “Snowprint is proving that there are different paths to explore within mid-core, making the category more accessible while delivering amazingly rich gaming experiences. The team at the Berlin studio is looking forward to joining them on that path.”
Snowprint Studios will be revealing additional details about its projects in the near future. Its first game, previously revealed to be a new kind of role-playing game set in the epic realm of Norse mythology, is currently in development. Snowprint itself has 19 employees.
Stockholm-based Snowprint Studios was founded in 2015 by industry veterans with an aim at creating rich gaming experiences for the everyday gamer through a new take on the mid-core games category.
Regarding the studio’s first game, Project Thor, Österberg said, “The studio’s first game will be a new kind of role-playing game (RPG) set in the epic realm of Norse mythology. Players will build their own teams as they defend Middle Earth from the icy warriors of Niflheim, competing in tactical, puzzle-based battles and collecting heroes that can evolve their godlike powers along the way.”