Meet the (rcp) family: Zeitland

Q: Who are you?
Zeitland media & games is a development studio from Ludwigsburg, Germany. As a team, we combine software development, design and conception. We enjoy working on challenging projects for our clients and develop our own ideas.

Q: How did you meet?
Michael and Beren have known each other long before Zeitland. We were working on total conversions of existing games, mainly as a hobby, back in the early 2000s — the “golden age of modding”, as we would put it. Zeitland was originally founded as a creative transmedia studio by graduates from the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, later transforming into a full production game and app development studio.

Q: What made you launch a company?
When starting out, we had the vision to mix different media and experiment with new entertainment formats. This spirit is still present in our work — we developed hybrid games, companion apps that incorporate serious games, gamified eLearning, interactive novels. We wanted to be independent and create something new.

Q: Beren graduated from a film academy. What made you decide to work in games and not films?
We are game and film enthusiasts and believe, that in the future both media sectors will converge further. Plus, film academy is not just about movies — Beren for example graduated in Interactive Media. Given our early modding background and professional careers, we are also far more proficient in game development than in film production.

Q: Why did you decide to join rcp?
Teamwork. You can achieve more by working together than on your own. As a studio, we want to focus mainly on our production and development skillset and it’s rather hard to manage the whole business development and legal overhead at the same time. Hence the cooperation. Besides, Beren knew rcp from his time in Munich at Chimera Entertainment and so he knew that such a cooperation would work.

Q: What does your work with rcp look like?
As a studio, we get a lot of business development support from rcp, also there is regular exchange on key parameters of the company. They help us stay on course, in good times as in bad. rcp offers a lot of valuable feedback and insight into the games industry, as well as important contacts. We as a studio in return help with our own network, regional connections, development expertise, creativity and hard work.

Q: How did you experience your cooperation with other family studios?
Very good! We have been working with several family studios in the past, as outsourcer and contractor, but we think there is even more potential in the future with a growing family and multiple teams working together on larger projects.

Q: You’ve been working on some really interesting projects with Ravensburger, combining traditional board games with technology. Can you tell us more about that?
Starting out as a transmedia studio and coming from different backgrounds in design and software development, we were picked by Ravensburger and other game publishers to help develop products that combine analog and digital media. We started by designing scenarios and later got involved in the development aspect of their hybrid products. With “Magical Museum” for Ravensburger, we were fortunate enough to build a story world, take part in the board game design process, create a fitting art style and develop the board game app. It has been a rewarding experience to work with experts from different industries. Everyone shared their know-how and worked on something that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Q: What are you working on right now?
We’re continuing to mix games with other media. You will already encounter more and more gamified software in serious environments, for example helping clients with onboarding of their employees, retention of their users, giving guidance and support for their services, and much more. So right now, Zeitland is focusing on serious games, eLearnings and web games, as well as multi-platform apps.

Q: Is there anything else you wish to say?
Building and growing a creative development studio is not an easy endeavor. Thanks to all who helped and believed in us. Our team, clients, partners, family and friends.

For more information about Zeitland, visit their website at: http://zeitland.com/

(This story was originally published on Facebook on July 11, 2017)