15 years of Grepolis: Why a second hit game is so important
The year is 2009. WhatsApp sees the light of day. Windows 7 gets installed on computers worldwide. In the same year, Hamburg-based game developer InnoGames releases Grepolis, its second strategy game and third game ever. It quickly becomes clear that the success of the company's first game, Tribal Wars, was no coincidence - InnoGames knows build-up strategy games.
No Greek tragedy: 15 years after its launch, Grepolis is an award-winning classic of the genre with a lifetime revenue of over 200 million euros. Thanks to 75,000+ daily active players, 30% of whom have been playing for 10 years or more, the game is still alive and kicking.
“Few people realise just how important the success of Grepolis was for us. After Tribal Wars, we first ventured into new territory with The West, a multiplayer online RPG for browser set in the Wild West. With Grepolis, which was partly developed in parallel, we then returned to the build-up strategy genre. Our players and we had many ideas that could not be implemented in an existing game like Tribal Wars. For Grepolis, we also had greater resources and deeper know-how at our disposal. We used all of this to make the game we always wanted to make,” explained Hendrik Klindworth, CEO and co-founder of InnoGames.
Michael Zillmer, COO and co-founder, added: “Before Grepolis, we asked ourselves questions like: Was Tribal Wars just a stroke of luck? Are strategy games our core competence? Our renewed success put these questions to rest. This gave us the courage to concentrate fully on our strengths and focus our energies - an often underestimated milestone in the company's history. We are now celebrating the 15th birthday of Grepolis, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped shape the game up to this point. But we also have enough ideas for another 15 years and are really looking forward to implementing them!”
The Grepolis anniversary will be celebrated with a special in-game quiz event (period Sept.26 to Oct.10, 2024) and a new trailer.
About InnoGames
InnoGames is one of the leading German developers of mobile and browser games and a certified Great Place to Work®. The climate-neutral company based in Hamburg was founded in 2007 and is now part of Modern Times Group (MTG). Together with 350+ employees from over 40 nations, the company founders develop unique games that provide many years of fun for millions of players around the world. InnoGames is best known for Forge of Empires, Elvenar and Tribal Wars, but the company is continually expanding its now 10-game portfolio across platforms and genres. InnoGames' latest title Heroes of History, a novel combination of city-building and hero collection, is about to be launched worldwide.
Marc Morian