Die Gute Fabrik

Die Gute Fabrik (German for ‘The Good Factory) is an independent games studio based in Denmark and the UK. Founded in Copenhagen by Nils Deneken in 2008 to be a home for a wide constellation of collaborators, the studio is now led by Yorkshire-based Creative Director Hannah Nicklin, and is currently focussed on developing story-driven games.

Die Gute Fabrik aim to draw inspiration from a variety of disciplines and histories, and to continue to push the boundaries of our ideas about what games can be; from multiplayer games based on folk play, to story-driven games which draw inspiration from soap operas, ensemble cast storytelling, television and theatre.

History

Gute Fabrik was founded by Nils Deneken in 2008, a couple of years after completing his first game Rückblende, a final project for his visual communications studies at Essen University.

Nils then met Doug Wilson in Seattle at IndieCade 2008. In January 2009, Doug moved back to Denmark (he had lived there in 2007-08 on a research grant) to pursue a PhD at IT University of Copenhagen. Doug and Nils started jamming on games together at the 2009 Nordic Game Jam, where they worked on 5 Minute MMORPG. Over the next couple years, they would work on a number of projects with the Copenhagen Game Collective, including their physical party game B.U.T.T.O.N. (which would go on to earn a 2011 IGF nomination).

In 2011, Doug officially joined Gute Fabrik with an eye towards publishing his motion control game Johann Sebastian Joust, as well as helping Nils realise his adventure game Mutazione. Doug was also joined by his then-housemate Christoffer Holmgård, who signed on to help manage business affairs.

Over the years, the company has come to collaborate with a number of talented friends from around the world, and in January 2017 Hannah Nicklin was brought on board to help with the writing of Mutazione. Her role quickly grew to Lead Writer and Narrative Designer, with an increasing involvement in production and support to Christoffer in bizdev, before the owners offered her the role of CEO and Studio Lead in January 2019, for which she moved to Copenhagen in April 2019.

Hannah now runs Die Gute Fabrik, with the support of the Owners as both collaborators and as an advisory Board of Directors.

Key Works

Saltsea Chronicles won honourable mention for excellence in narrative at the Independent Games Festival, and was an official selection for SXSW Sydney 2023 and Day of the Devs Summer Fest 2023. Prior to this release Mutazione (2019) was nominated for four awards at the 2020 Independent Games Festival, including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, and claimed one award for Excellence in Audio. In 2014 Die Gute Fabrik released the faux-sports game Sportsfriends and Johann Sebastian Joust, which was awarded the Innovation Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards, and the Technology Award and Impact Award at Indiecade. B.U.T.T.O.N. (2010) Rückblende won the Wild Card and Developers Choice Awards respectively, marking the beginning of the game studio’s success. The studio has currently halted production.