Focus Entertainment has announced a partnership with Germany-based game studio Mad About Pandas for a new entry in the Focus Indie Series. The companies aim to combine their expertise to create highly compelling core game mechanics with narrative storytelling skills.
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Mad About Pandas is an award-winning independent video game developer founded in 2005 by Patrick Rau and based in Berlin. The studio focuses on producing narrative games and commissioned projects for clients such as Goethe Institute, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, and Disney.
Patrick Rau, CEO of Mad About Pandas, commented:
“Our current production began as a love letter to the urban spaces of the 1970s. From there, the project unfolded to include layers of metaphysical strangeness, a memorable cast of characters, and some pretty mind-bending game mechanics. Today, we’re very excited to partner with Focus Entertainment to deliver our shared vision of a unique and boundary-breaking game title.”
Yves Le Yaouanq, Chief Content Officer at Focus Entertainment, added:
“Shaking up the dialogue between narrative and gameplay has always been one of the most interesting challenges in video games. The Berlin studio Mad About Pandas aims to reach this frontier and managed to enthuse us with an innovative take on the notion of gameplay, character, and universe.
“This partnership demonstrates once again our desire to break the codes while offering unique modern experiences, supported by spectacularly creative art directions. We can’t wait for players to discover the game at the crossroads of genres and universes.”
In the past, Mad About Pandas primarily focused on mobile game production (iOS, Android, Nintendo DS and Switch), with titles such as Ubisoft’s Galaxy Racers, The Great Jitters: Pudding Panic, Forever Forest, Truck Simulation 16 and Laika.
