Bigpoint closes mobile division, cancels games, lays off staff

"I'm a big believer in mobile, it's going to change many things in the games industry," says Heiko Hubertz, CEO of German online games publisher Bigpoint. "But I also think it's not the right time at the moment to be in this market because to generate revenues in this market is very tough," he adds. This, he says, is why Bigpoint is moving away from mobile game development, closing down its mobile branch, cancelling numerous mobile games currently in development, and laying off 29 employees in the process. Speaking to GI.biz, Hubertz explained, "We will not continue to create mobile games internally. We had around ten games in development, some of them are finished and will launch in the next few weeks but most of them will be completely closed and shut down." Bigpoint will now only work with external development teams when it comes to mobile game development, he added, as it looks to financially assist outside smartphone and tablet studios. As part of the move, the company's chief communications officer Nils Holger Henning has also stepped down from his position and plans to create a new start-up with financial aid from Hubertz.