DIE GUTE FABRIK

About

Die Gute Fabrik (which is German for "The Good Factory") is an independent games studio based in Denmark, founded in Copenhagen by Nils Deneken in 2008. Having worked with a wide constellation of collaborators, Die Gute Fabrik’s work draws inspiration from a variety of disciplines and histories. We aim to push the boundaries of what games can be; from multiplayer games based on folk play, to story-driven games which draw inspiration from soap operas, ensemble cast story-telling, graphic novels and theatre.

Our process is shaped by care, mutual respect and love for what we’re making. The variety of our games we work on share a strong sense of direction, artistic quality and craftsmanship.

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History

Gute Fabrik was founded by Nils Deneken in 2008, a couple of years after completing his first game Rückblende, a final project for his visual communications studies at Essen University.

Nils then met Doug Wilson in Seattle at IndieCade 2008. In January 2009, Doug moved back to Denmark (he had lived there in 2007-08 on a research grant) to pursue a PhD at IT University of Copenhagen. Doug and Nils started jamming on games together at the 2009 Nordic Game Jam, where they worked on 5 Minute MMORPG. Over the next couple years, they would work on a number of projects with the Copenhagen Game Collective, including their physical party game B.U.T.T.O.N. (which would go on to earn a 2011 IGF nomination).

In 2011, Doug officially joined Gute Fabrik with an eye towards publishing his motion control game Johann Sebastian Joust, as well as helping Nils realise his adventure game Mutazione. Doug was also joined by his then-housemate Christoffer Holmgård, who signed on to help manage business affairs.

Over the years, the company has come to collaborate with a number of talented friends from around the world, Nils contributed with Level Design and Art Direction to Where it my Heart?, and in January 2017 Hannah Nicklin was brought on board to help with the writing of Mutazione. Her role quickly grew to Lead Writer and Narrative Designer, with an increasing involvement in production and support to Christoffer in bizdev, before the owners offered her the role of CEO and Studio Lead in January 2019, for which she moved to Copenhagen in April 2019. She worked as the Creative Director of Saltsea Chronicles and ran the company until March 2024.

After Die Gute Fabrik had to stop production and go into hiatus in early 2024, Nils Deneken now runs Die Gute Fabrik again as the CEO and Creative Director and slowly builds the company back up again while working on a new game.