Once relatively unknown outside of Europe, Reakktor Media GMBH, based out of Hannover, Germany, has recently been gaining recognition in the international MMOG space as their latest title in development, Black Prophecy, nears completion. For many who have seen the game, it’s aesthetic and look quickly reminds one of the globally famous EVE Online. It’s story and setting, written by famed German science fiction author Michael Marrak, teases of a grand world, rich in lore. Most importantly however, it’s gameplay harkens many back to the glory days of Space sims such as Origin System’s Wing Commander series and Lucasarts X-Wing and TIE Fighter series. Combine these elements into a persistent virtual world and utilizing the growingly popular Free to Play business model, and you have a game with tremendous potential for success in the highly competitive MMOG market.
Founded in 1991, Reakktor Media began by creating small budget titles for the Commodore 64, Commodore AMIGA, and MS-DOS platforms, with distribution limited mainly to Germany and Europe. The relatively low cost of production allowed Reakktor to experiment with various different game genres, and kept the company liquid enough that they finally were able to push out their biggest title to date, Subtrade, in March 1992. The game was an economic multiplayer simulation, based off the classic M.U.L.E. by Dan Bunten, and was well recieved by critics at the time.
The success of Subtrade led to Reakktor’s next big release, Bermuda Syndrome. A step away from Subtrade’s highly strategic gameplay, Bermuda Syndrome was an action adventure game in the same vein as Another World and Flashback, and was one of the first games ever released for the Windows 95 platform. The game went on to sell nearly half a million copies worldwide, and is considered a cult classic of the genre.
Reakktor Media’s next game was unfortunately never released. Called ‘Pirahna’, it once again shifted game genres and showed off the company’s versatility. An action submarine simulator, the game was Reakktor’s first venture into the 3D realm. The game unfortunately was never finished, as Bertelsmann AG sold off it’s interactive entertainment activities to Take2 Interactive, and development was ceased in 1997.
In September 2002, Reakktor took it’s first steps into the MMORPG space with the release of Neocron. One of the world’s first Cyberpunk MMORPG’s, the game combined first person shooter elements with traditional MMORPG mechanics. Despite these innovative efforts, the game was recieved with mixed reviews, however it remains to this day one of the few MMORPG’s within the cyberpunk genre and still has a strong playerbase to this day.
Not to be naysayed however, Reakktor created it’s first real sequel, Neocron 2: Beyond Dome of York. Released in 2004, the game utilized a highly modified version of the original Neocron engine, boasting better visuals and new gameplay elements.
Reakktor’s once again revisited the original Neocron in 2005 and introduced it’s first expansion, “Evolution 2.1″. Alongside this, Reakktor also developed a throwback arcade shooter based off the Neocron world, named simply “Neocron Arcade.”
Running alongside continuing support for both Neocron and Neocron 2, Reakktor began development of Black Prophecy in late 2006. In 2008, Reakktor’s mother company, 10Tacle Studios, hit serious financial troubles and filed for bankruptcy. For a period of time, many of Reakktor’s assets were held for insolvency. This put the future development of Black Prophecy and Reakktor in general in doubt. Luckily, by November 2009, German courts had released these assets and Reakktor was once again free and working full steam ahead.
Now, as E3 winds down, Reakktor Media has plenty to be proud of. The games was well received by media, and is a welcome change from the vast majority of fantasy hack and slash games which seem to be becoming a staple in the MMORPG scene. With an upcoming closed beta test, Black Prophecy is positioned to really make an impact on the global market. Let’s hope the game doesn’t disappoint!
