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Koch Media has been renamed Plaion

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman



In a press statement issued by the publisher, it was announced that effective immediately, all Koch Media companies worldwide will now go by the Plaion name instead, retiring a name that has stood since Koch Media was originally founded in 1994.

According to the statement, the company’s new logo, which is a green triangular shape, is designed to look like a ‘play’ button.

“Along with the new name comes a new logo that represents the interactive play button, the abstract ‘P’ inside as representation of our new name, and the ribbon symbolising the embracing and connecting role we as Plaion have as a leader in the digital entertainment ecosystem,” it states.

Plaion co-founder and CEO Klemens Kundratitz said of the change: “Over the last 28 years, we have built an incredibly strong business, partnering with many of the best-known names in the industry. Since joining the Embracer Group in 2018, growth has accelerated and we have become increasingly diversified.

“To reflect the evolving nature of our business in terms not only of content, but also of geography as we continue our expansion across the globe, we have chosen our new name to better portray who we are and the journey we are taking.”

He added: “Our new name offers us the opportunity to build on our rich history as a publishing partner and our outstanding, constantly growing network of world-class development studios and creative people, to keep delivering premium service to our partners, to highlight our ambition as a global player within the entertainment industry but also to reinvent ourselves.

“Our vision is to enable and inspire our worldwide teams and partners, unlocking their full potential.”

It appears that Plaion will continue to run its existing publishing labels, such as Deep Silver, Prime Matter, Milestone, Vertigo Games and Ravenscourt, under their existing names.
 
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Shifty

Member
Much as with jokes, explaining the artistic composition of a logo does nothing to make it better or more effective.

Recall:

pepsi5.jpg
 

CamHostage

Member
Good, I guess?

The Koch name is not great to go with (no relation AFAICT to the Koch Brothers, if that matters,) but then it's weird to choose a game "term" as your branding when you still distribute films (though I don't know if Koch Home Entertainment ever actually produced its own material?) as well as software (Koch owns Avanquest, Kaspersky, Nero and Cyberlink, among other providers.)

And then just in general, why does the Koch Media enterprise need its own name when it's a brand in a brand with other brands? It's part of Embracer Group, and then everything I can tell they actually handle goes through Deep Silver or Retro Games or Prime Matter or Ravenscourt or one of its many other publishing labels. Why make a logo that you will never use?

Funny also that the other co-founder doesn't get to just put his name on the door. (Original co-founder Franz Koch was from Puma, but Kundratitz started and still runs the place... I guess "Kundratitz Media" doesn't have a great ring to it either.)
 
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Might as well have renamed themselves bankruptcy with all these weird decisions they keep making .

Should have named themselves U Draw.
 

01011001

Banned


here's Literally the fucking man himself pronouncing Koch in Koch Media exactly like the german word Koch (chef, cook)



Koch in Koch Media is pronounced exactly like the word Koch (albeit with an Austrian accent, meaning a slightly harsher ch sound lol), and as a native speaker you can believe me when I'm telling you that every single person in the videos you posted pronounces it wrong.

Koch Media simply doesn't give a shit and/or accept the bastardised version simply to make it easier for people who don't speak german to pronounce it.

it's still wrong tho.

it's like Ubisoft jokes about people pronouncing it YOU BE SOFT, although that's also technically wrong, they just roll with it
 
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Knightime_X

Member
here's Literally the fucking man himself pronouncing Koch in Koch Media exactly like the german word Koch (chef, cook)



Koch in Koch Media is pronounced exactly like the word Koch (albeit with an Austrian accent, meaning a slightly harsher ch sound lol), and as a native speaker you can believe me when I'm telling you that every single person in the videos you posted pronounces it wrong.

Koch Media simply doesn't give a shit and/or accept the bastardised version simply to make it easier for people who don't speak german to pronounce it.

it's still wrong tho.

it's like Ubisoft jokes about people pronouncing it YOU BE SOFT, although that's also technically wrong, they just roll with it

Tomatoes, tomatoes.
Other countries say many words that sound different than how it's pronounced in USA.
 

Knightime_X

Member
sure but I'm not out here calling the Switch the Sweat, which is basically how wrong Coke sounds compared to Koch
Location plays an extremely large role when it comes to pronunciation.
But I would love to see a Germany video saying Koch as COCK. 🤣
 
I knew I couldn't be the only one
Funnily enough the Koch brothers "cock" is probably pronounced correct since "Koch" is written and pronounced in Dutch as "kok". So probably the family has German roots but decided to pronounce it in the Dutch way. From where they emigrated to the US.
It appears that Plaion will continue to run its existing publishing labels, such as Deep Silver, Prime Matter, Milestone, Vertigo Games and Ravenscourt, under their existing names.
but why? Not one of them is a household name, Koch wasn't exactly either, but if not using Embracer for everything, at least they could use this oppurtunity to run their entire branch under plaion?
I will never understand PR and marketing nonsense.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman

  • 💼 Plaion, formerly known as Koch Media, is restructuring its games publishing business by merging multiple publishing labels under one brand.
  • 📉 This restructuring is expected to result in layoffs, with five to six jobs likely to be affected.
  • 🚀 Plaion aims to produce fewer titles at higher quality and publish all associated titles under the Plaion brand.
  • 🤝 Plaion's publishing operations for the Deep Silver, Prime Matter, and Ravenscourt brands will be built around four pillars: Games Portfolio and Business, Publishing Services, Global Sales & Marketing, and Distribution Partnership.
  • 💻 Titles may even be published under the Deep Silver, Prime Matter, and Ravenscourt brands over the next couple of years.
  • 🎮 Koch created the Deep Silver label in 2002, and Ravenscourt in 2015, while Prime Matter is a new label created in 2021.
  • 🧑‍💼 Plaion employs over 2,000 people and owns Milestone and Vertigo Games, which may be unaffected by the restructuring.
  • 🌎 The restructuring is part of simplifying publishing operations and is not related to the Embracer Group's "special review" of all its business operations.
 

Kadve

Member
Sounds like the loss of Volition/Saints Row disaster and the lukewarm reception to DI 2 really took a toll on them.
 
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theclaw135

Banned
Sounds like the loss of Volition/Saints Row disaster and the lukewarm reception to DI 2 really took a toll on them.

Embracer has a more serious problem of identity fatigue. They own brands like THQ, 3D Realms, Deep Silver, Plaion, etc. It's difficult to build up a cohesive public image, when such names have nothing in common to associate with the parent company.
 

Kadve

Member
Embracer has a more serious problem of identity fatigue. They own brands like THQ, 3D Realms, Deep Silver, Plaion, etc. It's difficult to build up a cohesive public image, when such names have nothing in common to associate with the parent company.
Talking about Koch/Plaion/Deep Silver specifically.
 
Missed opportunity to change the name to "Core" Media (the way Koch is supposed to be pronounced).
What? In what world is Koch to be promounced core? Koch literally means cook in German with the typical „ch“ soind that Anglos have a problem pronouncing as there is no equivalent in Emglish.
 

Paperboy

Member
Funny also that the other co-founder doesn't get to just put his name on the door. (Original co-founder Franz Koch was from Puma, but Kundratitz started and still runs the place... I guess "Kundratitz Media" doesn't have a great ring to it either.)

Kundratitz Media would be NSFW.
 

StereoVsn

Member
Embracer has a more serious problem of identity fatigue. They own brands like THQ, 3D Realms, Deep Silver, Plaion, etc. It's difficult to build up a cohesive public image, when such names have nothing in common to associate with the parent company.
Yep, and there is confusing with Koch/Platypus/whatever in addition. They really need to rehaul the publishing arms.

It would make them more competitive in brand space with Take 2, EA, etc... Plus would save money.

I also agree that Deep Silver is the only decent name they got for publishing, lol.
 

01011001

Banned
I also agree that Deep Silver is the only decent name they got for publishing, lol.

I disagree, IMO THQ Nordic is their best brand in terms of name recognition.
they should simply unify all their brands under the THQ banner, drop the Nordic part.
 

StereoVsn

Member
I disagree, IMO THQ Nordic is their best brand in terms of name recognition.
they should simply unify all their brands under the THQ banner, drop the Nordic part.
That's fine too. Issue now is they have so many different brands, it's a complete mess. Probably hard to manage as well and has a ton of redundancy which could be cleaned up and optimized (not ideal in terms of jobs though).
 

20cent

Banned
not true, not sure why you are trying to sound smart
Because I am ? And you're not, trying to double down a contradicting comments above yours replying mine like 9 months later ? Twitter is a good place for digging old messages and join an angry crowd. Bye now.
 

Tams

Gold Member
'Koch' is not that hard to say for an Anglophone.

You just use read the 'ch' as a hard 'c'/'k' and swallow it (relax your mouth) so that it becomes very weak (something called a 'schwa' (ə)). A 'sound' English has all over the place (well, British English at least).
 
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TVexperto

Member
Because I am ? And you're not, trying to double down a contradicting comments above yours replying mine like 9 months later ? Twitter is a good place for digging old messages and join an angry crowd. Bye now.
I am native german speaker so what you are saying is just flat out wrong just as the poster above me pointed out as well, just accept your loss and move on
 
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