Techland

Techland is a developer and publisher.

Techland Webpage, Facebook

One of the oldest and most prominent Polish developers, publishers, and distributors of video games for PC and consoles. The company’s headquarters is located in Wroclaw (formerly in Ostrów Wielkopolski), with an additional development studio in Warsaw. Since July 2023, Techland has been owned by the Chinese company Tencent. Pawel Marchewka is the founder of Techland and has served as its president and later CEO.

• Techland as a game developer
• Techland as a game publisher
• Techland as a Polish publisher
• History
• Chrome Engine / C-Engine
• BoxOff Store

Techland as a game developer

Techland began developing games in the mid-1990s, initially focusing on simple titles centered around bridge and chess. Their first “serious” games didn’t appear until the turn of the 21st century. The standout titles from this period were the first-person shooter series Chrome, powered by the company’s proprietary Chrome Engine, and the racing game Xpand Rally. The studio’s own series of speedway simulators - still developed today under the name FIM Speedway Grand Prix - also enjoyed significant popularity in the domestic market. Despite the positive reception of these titles, Techland didn’t fully step away from the lower-priced market, releasing numerous family games and karaoke titles between 2001 and 2010.

Techland’s first major international success was the Call of Juarez series, launched in 2006 and published globally by Ubisoft. The franchise mostly consisted of Western-themed first-person shooters - with the exception of Call of Juarez: The Cartel. The company’s second major franchise was Dead Island, an open-world action series centered around zombies. However, after parting ways with the series’ global publisher, Deep Silver/Koch Media, the franchise was later taken over by other development studios. The third major franchise in Techland’s portfolio is the survival horror first-person action game Dying Light, released internationally through Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In terms of gameplay and technical innovation, it brings together all of the developer’s prior experiences.

The Techland group currently includes the following development studios:

1. The main studio in Warsaw,
2. The main studio in Wroclaw,
3. Shortbreak Studios, based in Ostrów Wielkopolski, focusing on producing and publishing mobile games.
4. Digital Scapes Studios, based in Vancouver, Canada, was founded by former employees of BioWare, Creative Assembly, Radical Entertainment, and Relic Entertainment. It functions as a support studio, primarily handling technical tasks and certain gameplay elements, such as the Be the Zombie mode in Dying Light.

Techland as a game publisher

With the launch of its independent development operations in the late 90s, Techland also ventured into publishing, primarily focusing on its own games until 2016 - excluding its biggest hits, which were handled by major global publishers. Occasionally, Techland’s publishing portfolio included titles developed by external studios. However, due to their limited budgets and niche appeal - such as a karaoke series focused on Polish music - many of these games were never released outside of Poland.

In June 2016, Techland CEO Pawel Marchewka announced the launch of a new publishing division: Techland Publishing. Unlike the parent company's previous business profile, Techland Publishing operates as a third-party publisher, meaning it publishes games created by external developers. In a press release following its launch, the company announced its goal: to release at least two major multiplatform games and four digital titles each year.

Techland Publishing’s mission is to leverage its expertise in game development and publishing to offer a broad range of services - from development support and marketing to technology-driven solutions, such as motion capture, and localization of published titles. All of this is intended to let developers working with Techland Publishing focus on what matters most to them: creating games. The first global release from Techland Publishing was the RPG Torment: Tides of Numenera by inXile Entertainment, which launched in early 2017. Subsequent releases include Pure Farming 2018 by Ice Flames, God's Trigger developed by One More Level, and Arise: A Simple Story by Piccolo Studio.

Techland as a Polish publisher

From its early days, Techland has been one of Poland’s most dynamic distributors, bringing PC and console software and games from Western developers and publishers to the local market. With a few exceptions, Techland’s publishing portfolio does not include games from the world’s largest publishers; in Poland, these are typically distributed either by the publishers’ local branches or by competing domestic companies such as cdp.pl and Cenega. Techland’s key partners today include companies such as Deep Silver / Koch Media, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, 505 Games, Nacon/Bigben Interactive, Codemasters Software, Daedalic Entertainment, Devolver Digital, Focus Home Interactive, Iceberg Interactive, Konami, Rebellion, Koei Tecmo, and Telltale Games. One of the largest genres of games sold in Poland by Techland are simulators from such publishers as Excalibur Publishing, Rondomedia, and UIG Entertainment, which, despite their budget-friendly nature, enjoy enormous popularity among Polish gamers.

In addition to its major game releases, Techland’s portfolio has also included numerous publishing lines over the years, offering the company’s greatest hits at appealing prices. Among the most important are:

1. Classic Almanac – a collection featuring reissues of Techland’s most successful and best-known titles,
2. Good Game – the successor to the Classic Almanac, featuring reissues of Techland's most successful published titles,
3. Simulator Classics – a collection of reissues of Techland’s most notable simulator games,
4. Amazing Machines – a collection featuring either reissued or brand-new releases of simulator games,
5. Steel Series – reissues or brand-new releases of games presented in steelbooks.

Over the years, however, the video game industry has undergone significant transformations, with boxed sales gradually losing importance as digital distribution became dominant. Therefore, in late February 2019, Pawel Marchewka announced in an official statement that, "after months of market analysis," Techland had begun "the process of phasing out its Polish publishing operations," a process that was expected to continue until the end of the year. These changes were not expected to affect the company’s “global publishing plans” or the “development of the two AAA open-world games” that Techland was working on at the time. One of them was Dying Light 2, whose Polish release was entrusted to Cenega.

History

Beginning of business

Techland was founded in 1991 by Pawel Marchewka and initially focused on localizing and publishing foreign software for the Polish market. Its relatively modest early catalog included titles such as Puzzle, Wheel of Fortune, and Prawo Krwi (1995), highly popular in Poland and released for PC and Amiga computers. In 1993, Techland began developing its own software, primarily consisting of dictionaries, translators, and games - most popular of which were various family games, as well as games dedicated to chess, bridge and speedway racing. Techland's first major production was the real-time strategy game Extermination, released in 1999, which, due to its low budget, was only really popular in Poland.

On the international stage, Techland made its global debut just a year later with the futuristic action game Crime Cities, which was published worldwide by the well-known company Strategy First. Between 2001 and 2002, Techland continued developing family-oriented games - such as Indiana Jack, Pet Soccer, and Pet Racer - alongside new installments in its original Bridge and Speedway series, the latter of which had by then secured a valuable license from the international organization FIM. The positive reception of Crime Cities allowed Techland to consolidate its strengths and focus on developing more games with the potential for international success. The first step in bringing these plans to life was the joint development of Techland’s own graphics engine, Chrome Engine, which would serve as the foundation for the company’s future games.

The "Chrome" era

The first game to run on the new engine was Chrome, a sci-fi first-person shooter released in 2003. In 2004, Techland followed up with Xpand Rally, a racing game also built on the Chrome Engine. Both games achieved significant commercial success - at least by Polish standards - encouraging Techland to pursue more high-budget projects. At the same time, Techland continued producing casual family games, as seen with titles like Crazy Soccer Mundial and the Kurka w Ogniu and Nikita series. In 2005 and 2006, Techland released sequels to the Chrome and Xpand Rally series, along with GTI Racing, developed in collaboration with Prominence and Volkswagen. Above all, however, Techland’s continually evolving proprietary Chrome Engine - used to create many mostly low budget titles between 2006 and 2010 - drew significant interest from external developers.

Techland’s real breakthrough came in 2006, when Ubisoft released Call of Juarez, a Western-themed first-person action game built on the third-generation Chrome Engine. The game also marked a milestone as the first title from a Polish developer to launch on consoles, specifically the Xbox 360. Following this success, Techland expanded the franchise with a full-fledged sequel in 2009, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, built on the improved fourth-generation Chrome Engine. Once again published worldwide by Ubisoft, the game launched not just on PC and Xbox 360, but also on PlayStation 3. Meanwhile, the Polish developer took a brief break from major productions, releasing several installments of the casual Karaoke for Fun series in 2009, followed in 2010 by a similarly themed title, SingSing, along with another entry in its speedway series.

An undead success

The years 2010–2011 saw the release of the wacky racing game Nail’d, which enjoyed moderate commercial success, as well as the third installment of the Call of Juarez series. Powered by the fifth-generation Chrome Engine and set in the modern era, the latter turned out to be the worst-reviewed entry in the series. To win back the somewhat shaken trust of players, Techland needed a fresh start with a bold new project. The game that quickly restored Techland’s reputation was the first-person action game Dead Island, released in September 2011, which hit the mark during the zombie apocalypse craze. The well-received original was followed two years later by a sequel, Dead Island Riptide. However, further capitalizing on the franchise's success was halted by the split with the series’ publisher, Deep Silver/Koch Media, which assigned the development of subsequent Dead Island titles to other studios.

Gearing up for another major breakthrough, between 2012 and 2014 Techland worked on a spin-off of the Call of Juarez series, along with sequels to its racing and karaoke franchises. Meanwhile, in mid-2013, Techland opened its first international branch in Vancouver, Canada. The studio, known as Digital Scapes, brought together former employees from BioWare, Creative Assembly, Radical Entertainment, and Relic Entertainment. In January 2015, Techland released the first installment of its brand-new IP, the first-person survival horror action game Dying Light, on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Built on the sixth-generation Chrome Engine, the game was initially planned for previous-generation consoles, but development for those platforms was eventually canceled because they couldn’t handle such a modern graphics engine.

Another new IP in Techland’s portfolio became one of the company’s biggest commercial hits, leading, among other things, to the release of a major DLC expansion called The Following the next year. Meanwhile, working on commission from Deep Silver/Koch Media, Techland’s studios also developed remastered editions of the first two Dead Island games for next-generation consoles. In June 2016, Techland CEO Pawel Marchewka announced the launch of a brand-new publishing division, Techland Publishing, aimed at handling both traditional and digital releases of AAA games from third-party developers.

On June 10, 2018, Techland officially announced a sequel to its recent blockbuster. Dying Light 2 was officially unveiled during Microsoft's E3 conference. At the time, it was revealed that the game's narrative was overseen by Chris Avellone, a renowned writer whose credits include Planescape: Torment, Fallout: New Vegas, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II. The game was originally slated for a spring 2020 release, but in January, its launch was postponed to an unspecified later date. Interestingly, although the collaboration with Avellone had been successful, it was terminated in June 2020 following allegations of sexual harassment against him.

Meanwhile, in February 2019, it was announced that the Polish publisher had shut down its operations, and the distribution rights for Dying Light 2 in Poland were transferred to Cenega. In the summer of 2020, Techland brought back a long abandoned project of theirs. Said unreleased game, Hellraid, made its comeback as an expansion for Dying Light. The expansion was not well received, but in June 2021 it was significantly expanded with a story campaign.

Regarding Dying Light 2, back in May 2020, PolskiGamedev.pl published an extensive article detailing the many challenges and reported issues the developers were facing. The article highlighted, among other things, the constant shifts in the game's concept and the reported conflict between Chris Avellone and Techland’s management. USUN To make matters worse, in January 2021, Pawel Selinger, the art director and screenwriter of Dying Light 2, left Techland. On March 17, 2021, it was confirmed that the game would finally be released that year, and a new trailer was also unveiled. In May 2021, it was revealed that the game had received a subtitle, Stay Human, and that its release was scheduled for December 7, 2021. However, the project faced another delay, and on February 4, 2022, Dying Light 2 finally launched on PC as well as eighth- and ninth-generation consoles. The game was well received by critics, with Metacritic reporting an average score of 76–78/100 across different platforms. Players were equally positive, reflected in the “very positive” rating on Steam. On launch day, over 245,000 players were online simultaneously on Steam - five times the peak of the original game. In the months that followed, the game was supported with multiple updates and a series of smaller expansions. Additionally, in April 2022, it was revealed that within just a month of its release, the game had attracted 5 million players, effectively covering its estimated $100 million budget. In August 2022, Techland unveiled the first story DLC for the game. The Bloody Ties expansion launched in November 2022, but it met with a rather lukewarm reception, as players found it boring, leading to only "mixed" reviews on Steam The studio, however, didn’t give up and promised that the next story expansion would arrive in stores by the end of 2023.

Meanwhile, in July 2022, Techland hit a record worth. According to Puls Biznesu, Techland was valued at 10.6 billion PLN, making it the most valuable game developer in Poland. In January 2023, Techland had another milestone to celebrate: the entire Dying Light series had surpassed 30 million copies sold. In February, Pawel Marchewka could celebrate being ranked 5th on the list of Poland’s 100 richest people, with an estimated net worth of 8.345 billion PLN.

Joining the Chinese giant

On July 24, 2023, it was announced that the Chinese tech giant Tencent had acquired a majority stake in Techland. The ownership change reportedly would not affect the studio’s operations, with Techland expected to retain its “artistic and creative freedom.” Pawel Marchewka, the studio's CEO, was still expected to lead the team.

At the time, Techland was reported to be working on at least two major projects. The first project was a new major expansion for Dying Light 2, while the second was an upcoming action RPG, which, according to Pawel Marchewka, was “taking shape and starting to look truly exceptional.”

In mid-June 2024, it became clear that Techland was not immune to the wave of layoffs affecting the video game industry. Fortunately, all signs pointed to the layoffs being limited in scope at Techland, rather than affecting the company on a large scale. According to unofficial reports, over a dozen employees reportedly left Techland during this round of departures.

However, in July, more bad news came from Techland: the Wroclaw-based studio was expected to post a record operating loss of 90 million PLN for 2023. The studio attributed the loss to heavy investments in new projects. Before diving into those projects, it’s worth noting that just a few days later, the studio announced it would end its remote work policy. The announcement sparked concerns - not just because of how it was communicated, but also because Techland’s offices reportedly weren’t ready to accommodate everyone, with employees citing issues like insufficient workspace.

At Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024, Techland announced Dying Light: The Beast, the third standalone entry in the Dying Light series, which evolved from the Dying Light 2: Stay Human expansion. Additionally, Techland was developing a fantasy RPG and another multiplayer-focused project built on the Unreal Engine 5.

Chrome Engine / C-Engine

In addition to its games, Techland developed its own proprietary technology, the Chrome Engine. The first version of the engine debuted in 2003 alongside Techland’s first-person shooter, Chrome. Since its debut, Chrome Engine has been continuously updated and expanded, gaining new features and adapting to the evolving technologies of various gaming platforms. Over the years, successive generations of the engine were mainly used in Techland’s own games, though they were occasionally licensed to third-party developers as well. The second-generation Chrome Engine became Techland’s workhorse, powering roughly 20 games between 2004 and 2010. However, most of these third-party projects were low-budget titles that didn’t achieve much commercial success. In 2021, Chrome Engine was renamed C-Engine.

Subsequent generations of Chrome Engine were used to create games such as:

1. Chrome Engine 1 – Chrome, Chrome: SpecForce, Crazy Soccer Mundial, FIM Speedway Grand Prix,
2. Chrome Engine 2 – 4x4: Hummer, Classic Car Racing, Code of Honor: French Foreign Legion, Expedition Trophy, FIM Speedway Grand Prix 2, GM Rally, GTI Racing, Mortyr III: Diversionary Operations, Sniper: The Art of Victory, Terrorist Takedown: Covert Operations, Terrorist Takedown: War in Colombia, UAZ Racing 4x4, Xpand Rally, Xpand Rally Xtreme,
3. Chrome Engine 3 – Call of Juarez, FIM Speedway Grand Prix 3, FIM Speedway Grand Prix 4, Speedway Liga,
4. Chrome Engine 4 – Call of Juarez: Blood Ties, Mad Riders, Nail'd, Sniper: Ghost Warrior,
5. Chrome Engine 5 – Call of Juarez: The Cartel, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, Dead Island, Dead Island Riptide,
6. Chrome Engine 6 – Dead Island: Definitive Collection, Dying Light, Hellraid.
7. C-Engine – Dying Light 2, Dying Light: The Beast.

BoxOff Store

In 2013, Techland launched its own digital distribution platform, BoxOff Store. Like other digital stores, such as cdp.pl and Muve Digital, BoxOff Store offers not only Techland’s own games but also titles from global publishers and indie developers. On June 9, 2014, in partnership with Oxycom, Techland launched the beta version of its cloud gaming service, BoxOff Play, offering subscription-based access to games streamed online. In May 2018, Techland began the process of shutting down the BoxOff Store, which also meant the discontinuation of the BoxOff Play cloud gaming service.