German-Austrian game publisher Koch Media is changing its name to Plaion as part of an overall brand rebrand. The company is still part of the media conglomerate Embracer Group.
The name Plaion would in their own words better reflect the company’s intended identity: “To reflect the evolving nature of our business (…) we have chosen a new name that better represents who we are and the journey we are on.” The new logo must represent an ‘interactive play button’.
Opposite GamesIndustry.biz co-founder Klemens Kundratitz gives another explanation for the name change; the word ‘Koch’ would be difficult for some to pronounce. Luckily he puts in one playful video in great detail how you should and should not have pronounced the old name. The new name Plaion should be pronounced as ‘play on’.
The company has more than 2,000 employees and is the parent company of multiple game studios and publishers, including Deep Silver, Warhorse Studios, and Flying Wild Hog. Plaion is therefore directly or indirectly responsible, whether or not in retrospect, for franchises such as Saints Row, Borderlands, Dead Island, Payday, Mount & Blade, Metro and Shadow Warrior. The Dutch Vertigo Games has also been part of Plaion for several years.
The former Koch Media was founded in 1994 by Franz Koch and Klemens Kundratitz. Since then, the European company has made several major acquisitions and several sub-labels have been established. In early 2018, the parent company, Koch Media Holding, was acquired for roughly $150 million by Sweden’s Embracer Group, formerly known as THQ Nordic.