Publisher Kalypso Media announced the ongoing development of the highly popular Tropico franchise. Realmforge Studios is now the one working on the project. Known for creating Dungeons 3, Realmforge's first work for the franchise is Caribbean Skies. This newest add-on to Tropico 6 will launch on December 16 for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Kalypso revealed that for Realmforge to get the required resources, they completely took over the studio. Throughout 2020, Kalypso expanded Realforge including its staff. Kalypso even relocated the studio to a larger office.
Kalypso acquiring Realmforge is not really a big deal. This is because they already have an exclusive publishing relationship for at least 10 years. One result of the partnership was Dungeons 3, released in October 2017.
Kalypso Managing Partner Simon Hellwig said that the takeover was logical since the company did plan to expand its own resources. He continued that they “are offering the highly qualified, motivated team in Munich the opportunity to focus exclusively on the further development of exciting franchises such as Tropico, Dungeons and Spacebase Startopia in the future.”
Meanwhile, Christian Wolfertstetter of Realmforge added that Tropico is more than perfect for the studio. He commented: “developing complex city-builder and strategy games with that special x-factor element, that are well-received within the community and the wider market on all platforms - that's something we do well.”
Realmforge's Benjamin Rauscher shared that they are more than happy to have a strong partnership with Kalypso. He expressed the fortunate event in getting the needed support. On working with Tropico, he said that “it is a great honor and a great responsibility for us to have such an important franchise as Tropico in our hands.”
Tropico 6 was released in 2019 for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. A version for the Nintendo Switch was launched in November this year. There’s no question that this should signal an exciting time for the Tropico series.
