 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Defunct | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Cologne, Germany San Rafael, California, U.S. |
Key people | Achim Moller, CEO Julian Eggebrecht, President (U.S. branch) |
| Products | Lair Rogue Squadron series Turrican series MusyX: Dolby Sound Tools DivX For Games SDK |
| Website | Official website |
Factor 5 GmbH is an independent software and video game developer. The company was co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name.
In order to have a stronger relationship with Factor 5's North American partners like LucasArts, Factor 5, Inc. was established in the United States in May 1996 with legal support from LucasArts, and in late 1996 the core of the development team in Germany was relocated to the North American company headquarters in San Rafael, California.[1][2] Julian Eggebrecht, one of the five initial co-founders, served as President of Factor 5's U.S. branch.
The U.S. company closed in May 2009, following the closure of Brash Entertainment, with which the company had multiple contracts.[3] The original German company, headed by CEO Achim Moller, remained active due to its unrelated business policy and operations with the North American company.[4][5]
However, in January 2011, Moller liquidated Factor 5 GmbH, and all game licenses were transferred to "Eggebrecht, Engel, Schmidt GbR".[6]
On March 15, 2017, Factor 5 co-founder Julian Eggebrecht had announced that the company has returned and re-acquired the rights to the Turrican franchise.[7]
- ^ "FACTOR 5". www.factor5.de.
- ^ Thomas Engel. "Postmortem: Factor 5's Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II". Gamasutra.
- ^ Tom Ivan. "Lair Dev Factor 5 Closes". Edge. Archived from the original on 23 March 2011.
- ^ Matt Casamassina (14 May 2009). "Factor 5 Shuts Down". IGN.
- ^ Leigh Alexander. "Factor 5 Germany Confirms U.S. Studio Closure". Gamasutra.
- ^ "Factor 5 now completely dead | NeoGAF". Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ^ "Factor 5 rises from the ashes, reacquires Turrican license, gives insight into Switch development". 15 March 2017.