Ubisoft Mainz

Ubisoft Mainz is a German video-game development studio based in Mainz. The team began in 1995 as Related Designs, founded by Thomas Pottkämper, Burkhard Ratheiser, Thomas Stein, and Jens Vielhaben. It was established in the Mainz area and initially operated from comparatively modest premises, including space associated with Pottkämper's family home. The studio became known for strategy and city-building games, most notably through its work on the Anno franchise. Ubisoft's relationship with Related Designs developed in stages. In April 2007, Ubisoft acquired a 30 percent stake in the company and obtained rights connected with the Anno series. This investment linked the Mainz developer more closely to Ubisoft while allowing Related Designs to continue operating as a distinct development organization. By May 2008, the studio was reported to have approximately 50 employees. Ubisoft acquired the remaining 70 percent of Related Designs in April 2013, bringing the company under complete Ubisoft ownership. Following the transaction, the Mainz team worked in tandem with Ubisoft's German studio Blue Byte. This cooperation reflected Ubisoft's broader model of combining specialist teams across locations, particularly for large strategy productions that require extensive engineering, world-building, systems design, art, and production support. In June 2014, Related Designs was assigned the Blue Byte name. The Mainz operation therefore became part of the Blue Byte structure alongside the Düsseldorf-based German studio. The Blue Byte identity was used during a period in which the German teams were associated with Ubisoft's strategy portfolio, including Anno and other management- and construction-oriented projects. The studio was rebranded Ubisoft Mainz in August 2019. The change aligned the team with Ubisoft's naming system for its international development locations and made its relationship with the parent company more explicit. Ubisoft Mainz remains principally a development organization rather than a consumer-facing publisher. Its work is delivered through Ubisoft's global publishing and distribution infrastructure, while the studio contributes specialist production capabilities to major Ubisoft projects. The studio's best-known creative association is the Anno series, a long-running set of historical and futuristic strategy games centered on settlement construction, production chains, trade, diplomacy, exploration, and resource management. The series has been developed through collaboration among Ubisoft's German teams and other Ubisoft locations. Ubisoft Mainz's role illustrates the importance of German development expertise within Ubisoft's international network, particularly in complex simulation and strategy design. As of January 2023, the Mainz studio was reported to have approximately 170 employees. Its operating context is international: although the team is headquartered in Germany, its games are developed for global markets and distributed across multiple platforms and territories by Ubisoft. Publicly available reference material does not identify a separate listed entity, independent stock ticker, or independently reported financial results for Ubisoft Mainz. The studio is therefore best understood as an active, wholly owned Ubisoft development site whose identity and output are closely connected to the wider Ubisoft group.

Ubisoft Mainz traces its history to Related Designs, a German game developer established in 1995 by Thomas Pottkämper, Burkhard Ratheiser, Thomas Stein, and Jens Vielhaben. The company was based in the Mainz area and began with a small-scale operating model; reference material places its early activities in premises connected with Pottkämper's parents' house in the Nackenheim district of Mainz. This origin shaped the studio as an independent local developer before it became part of Ubisoft's international network. Related Designs built its identity around strategy and simulation software. Its most important creative association was the Anno series, a franchise centered on settlement construction, economic planning, production chains, trade, exploration, and political relationships. These systems-heavy games required specialized design and engineering capabilities and gave the Mainz team a distinctive position within the German development scene. On 11 April 2007, Ubisoft acquired a 30 percent stake in Related Designs and obtained rights associated with the Anno series. The transaction did not immediately eliminate the studio's independent identity, but it created a formal relationship with one of the world's major game publishers. By May 2008, the studio had approximately 50 employees, indicating growth beyond its early small-team origins. Ubisoft increased its ownership on 11 April 2013 by acquiring the remaining 70 percent of Related Designs. From that point, the company was fully controlled by Ubisoft. The Mainz team subsequently developed projects in tandem with Blue Byte, Ubisoft's other major German development organization. The arrangement allowed Ubisoft to combine the Mainz studio's strategy expertise with Blue Byte's production infrastructure and broader role within Ubisoft's German operations. In June 2014, Related Designs was assigned the Blue Byte name. During this period, the Mainz team functioned within the Blue Byte identity while continuing to contribute to Ubisoft's strategy portfolio. The naming change reflected organizational integration rather than the disappearance of the underlying development capability. The team remained associated with German game development and with the Anno property. In August 2019, the studio was rebranded Ubisoft Mainz. The new name made its location and corporate affiliation immediately visible and brought the team into line with Ubisoft's naming convention for studios in cities around the world. Ubisoft Mainz is not described as a separately listed company; it operates as a wholly owned development studio within Ubisoft. The team's role is primarily developmental rather than retail or publishing-oriented. Ubisoft's global publishing organization distributes and markets the resulting games, while Ubisoft Mainz contributes creative, technical, and production work. Its specialization is particularly relevant to large-scale strategy and simulation products, where the development process involves interconnected economies, extensive environments, user-interface systems, artificial intelligence, and long-term balancing. The studio's historical importance within Ubisoft comes from its contribution to the Anno lineage and from its place in the company's German development cluster. Ubisoft's studios commonly share responsibilities across locations, and Mainz's work has been conducted in that collaborative environment rather than in isolation. Reference material reports approximately 170 employees at Ubisoft Mainz in January 2023. No reliable public material supplied for this dossier establishes a current studio director, independently reported revenue, or a separate public-market listing. The available evidence supports classifying Ubisoft Mainz as an active Ubisoft-owned German game-development studio.

• 2023

  Reported workforce reaches approximately 170 employees

  [1]List of Ubisoft subsidiariesen.wikipedia.org

  Reference material identifies Ubisoft Mainz as having approximately 170 employees in January 2023.

• 2019

  Ubisoft Mainz rebrand

  [1]List of Ubisoft subsidiariesen.wikipedia.org

  The studio is renamed Ubisoft Mainz, completing its transition to Ubisoft's city-based studio branding.

• 2014

  Related Designs becomes part of the Blue Byte identity

  [1]List of Ubisoft subsidiariesen.wikipedia.org

  The Mainz studio is assigned the Blue Byte name and works in tandem with Ubisoft's other German development teams.

• 2013

  Ubisoft acquires full ownership

  [1]List of Ubisoft subsidiariesen.wikipedia.org

  Ubisoft purchases the remaining 70 percent of Related Designs and takes complete control of the studio.

• 2008

  Studio reaches approximately 50 employees

  [1]List of Ubisoft subsidiariesen.wikipedia.org

  Reference material reports that Related Designs had about 50 employees during this period.

• 2007

  Ubisoft takes a minority stake

  [1]List of Ubisoft subsidiariesen.wikipedia.org

  Ubisoft acquires 30 percent of Related Designs and obtains rights associated with the Anno series.

• 1995

  Related Designs is founded

  [1]List of Ubisoft subsidiariesen.wikipedia.org

  Thomas Pottkämper, Burkhard Ratheiser, Thomas Stein, and Jens Vielhaben establish Related Designs in the Mainz area of Germany.

A specialist Ubisoft development studio focused on complex strategy, city-building, simulation, and co-development work, with a particularly strong association with the Anno franchise.

• Strategy and city-building video games

  Anno series

  The Anno series is a strategy franchise focused on building settlements and managing increasingly sophisticated economies. Players typically balance population needs, resource extraction, production chains, trade routes, exploration, diplomacy, and territorial expansion. Ubisoft Mainz is historically associated with the series through its predecessor Related Designs and subsequent Ubisoft development structure. The franchise is the studio's clearest flagship creative association and demonstrates its specialization in systems-heavy strategy design.

• Video-game development

  Ubisoft strategy and simulation projects

  Beyond its association with Anno, Ubisoft Mainz operates as a development resource for Ubisoft's broader strategy and simulation portfolio. Such work can involve game systems, engineering, world construction, interface design, production support, and collaboration with other Ubisoft locations. The supplied reference material does not provide a complete, verified list of separately branded products or titles for this category, so it is described here as a studio capability rather than a named product line.

• 2019

  Rebranding as Ubisoft MainzStrategy

  Background

  Ubisoft increasingly used location-based names for its development studios, making local identity and group affiliation more consistent across its international network.

  Action taken

  The Blue Byte Mainz operation was rebranded Ubisoft Mainz.

  Aftermath

  The studio gained a direct Ubisoft identity while remaining an active development site in Germany.

  Source

• 2014

  Integration under the Blue Byte nameStrategy

  Background

  Following Ubisoft's acquisition of full control, the company consolidated the public identity of its German strategy-development operations.

  Action taken

  Related Designs was assigned the Blue Byte name and worked alongside the existing Blue Byte organization.

  Aftermath

  The Mainz team continued its strategy specialization within a more integrated Ubisoft structure until its later renaming as Ubisoft Mainz.

  Source

• 2013

  Ubisoft completes the acquisition of Related DesignsM&A

  Background

  After holding a minority position since 2007, Ubisoft expanded its ownership of the Mainz developer.

  Action taken

  Ubisoft acquired the remaining 70 percent of Related Designs and took full control.

  Aftermath

  The studio began developing in closer coordination with Blue Byte and became part of Ubisoft's German development structure.

  Source

• 2007

  Ubisoft purchases a minority stake in Related DesignsM&A

  Background

  Related Designs had developed expertise in strategy games and was associated with the Anno series. Ubisoft sought a formal relationship with the studio and rights connected to the property.

  Action taken

  Ubisoft acquired 30 percent of Related Designs and obtained rights associated with the Anno series.

  Aftermath

  The transaction began the studio's transition from an independent Mainz developer into a long-term Ubisoft development partner.

  Source

1. 1List of Ubisoft subsidiariesen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Ubisoft Mainz official websitemainz.ubisoft.com