Former Frogster Exec Founds Free-To-Play Firm

Months after leaving Berlin-based online game publisher Frogster Interactive, Rolf Kloppel has revealed his forming of Neonga, a company specializing in free-to-play titles for the European market. Kloppel is serving as chief executive at Neonga and is joined by Ben Kaiser, formerly a technical director at Frogster and now CTO at Neonga; and Mario Wengler, once IT/Network director at Frogster and currently CIO at the new studio. "Neonga is currently preparing for the roll-out in the online gaming market, aiming to license, develop, operate and market free-to-play massively multiplayer online games," said Kloppel, according to a report from GamesIndustry.biz [registration required]. Earlier this week, Frogster said that it opted not to continue its consulting agreement with Kloppel's similarly-named brother Ralf Kloppel, who headed the German firm's marketing and PR efforts for the past two years, last spring. It also fired CAO Bjorn Koschin and Frogster America CEO Lars Koschin. Rolf Kloppel left Frogster in March this year. The Runes of Magic publisher offered no explanation for letting the Koschin brothers or Ralf Kloppel go, though it is currently in the midst of what Frogster describes as a friendly takeover by Gameforge, another German publisher also dedicated to releasing free-to-play online titles. The Neonga CEO said he hasn't made any immediate plans to collaborate with the Koschin siblings but would welcome a chance to work with them. He added that the studio is currently focused on moving into its office and building up its manpower and infrastructure.