Headup's future as an independent company

gamesindustry.biz:

It's not often that companies part ways on good terms, but this was the case for Thundeful and Headup when their three-year partnership came to an end in January 2024.

The Germany-based company was sold as part of Thunderful's restructuring process earlier this year, which Headup's CEO and founder Dieter Schoeller describes as "very smooth" when we catch up at this year's Devcom.

Schoeller notes that the main reason for parting ways was that Thunderful "went in a different direction over the years" and found that indie development wasn't a core part of its business anymore.

"From my perspective, Thunderful said they wanted to double down on the larger productions because the markets got tougher," he explains. "We didn't part on bad terms – they just had to focus on their strategy. I mean, there were three CEOs and four CFOs in three years, so there was a lot of strategy shifting in between."

Schoeller also noted that Headup may have been a "little bit too quirky" for Thunderful towards the end – "[especially] for a corporation which is trying to streamline its operations."

While Schoeller is open to another partnership in the future, it depends "on the offer and the value of the proposition."

"I'm not actively seeking one, but there are good companies out there – ones that share the approach to entertainment and sustainability of the product," he explains. "I think it would come from the indie region, even if it's a bigger indie. We're not the size for major players, it has to have a certain threshold for those to be interested. But partnering up with a stronger indie, sure. It all comes down to the quality of the people, to be honest. If I feel like I could go on vacation with those people, then that's a good team."

One of Schoeller's biggest takeaways from the partnership was navigating the current climate of restructuring, referring to Thunderful cutting 20% of its workforce in January 2024.

"I founded Headup 15 years ago, and I've never had to lay off anybody. I took