Contents
Free-to-play medieval strategy MMO
Goodgame Studios founded in Hamburg
2009
Goodgame Empire beta launch
August 2011
Empire: Four Kingdoms mobile launch
January 2013
Lifetime revenue surpasses $800 million
August 2017
Acquired by Stillfront Group
January 2018
Flash to HTML5 migration completed
2020
10th anniversary celebrated
August 2021
Empire brand surpasses €1 billion in revenue
December 2022
Goodgame Empire is a free-to-play medieval castle-building strategy game developed and published by Goodgame Studios. The browser-based massively multiplayer online (MMO) game launched in beta on August 14, 2011, and quickly became the company's flagship title. 1 Players build and manage a medieval castle, train armies, form alliances, and compete against both AI-controlled enemies and other players in a persistent online world. 2
The game has been localized into 26 languages and has attracted over 120 million registered players across more than 240 countries, making it one of the most widely played browser games ever produced. 1
In Goodgame Empire, players start by constructing a castle in the Great Empire, the game's primary kingdom. The core gameplay loop revolves around gathering three main resources — food, wood, and stone — along with coins and rubies (a premium currency). As players progress to higher levels, they unlock access to three additional kingdoms: the Everwinter Glacier, the Burning Sands, and the Fire Peaks. Each kingdom allows players to build a new castle and produce unique resources such as coal, oil, and glass. 2
Players can also establish up to three outposts in the Great Empire, which serve as specialized resource production centers. Military strategy plays a central role, as players recruit and equip commanders with armor and weapons, then deploy troops in both PvE and PvP combat. Alliance systems enable cooperative play, and regular in-game events and quests provide ongoing engagement. 2
Goodgame Studios was founded in Hamburg, Germany in June 2009 by brothers Kai and Christian Wawrzinek along with Fabian Ritter. 3 The company initially released several smaller browser games including Goodgame Poker (2009) and Goodgame Gangster (2010) before launching Goodgame Empire in August 2011. 2
The game saw rapid early growth, with more than 12 million players registering during its first year alone. 1 Goodgame Studios delivered monthly content updates from launch, releasing over 250 updates by 2017. 4 By that year, the game's lifetime revenue had surpassed $800 million, leading the studio to brand it as the most successful German game of all time. 4
One of the game's most significant technical challenges was the migration from Adobe Flash to HTML5. With approximately one million lines of code to transfer, the team undertook the conversion beginning around 2017 and completed it in 2020, ahead of Flash's end-of-life in December 2020. 4 5
The success of Goodgame Empire spawned several spin-off titles under the "Empire" brand:
By December 2022, the Empire brand collectively surpassed one billion euros in total revenue, with over 220 million registered players across all titles. 5
Goodgame Empire and its spin-offs have received numerous industry accolades, including Best Browser Game at the European Games Awards, Best Strategy Browser MMO at the MMO of the Year Awards, and recognition as an evergreen title at the German Developer Award 2021. Empire: Four Kingdoms was named Best Casual Browser MMO and Best Mobile Game at the European Games Awards. 5
In December 2017, Swedish gaming conglomerate Stillfront Group acquired Goodgame Studios. 3 Under Stillfront's ownership, the studio has continued to operate from its Hamburg headquarters with additional offices in Tokyo, maintaining its focus on free-to-play games. As of 2024, the studio employs approximately 270 people and serves over 500 million registered users across all of its titles. 3
By the time of its tenth anniversary in 2021, Goodgame Empire players had collectively spent over 250 billion hours in the game across more than four billion sessions. The community had fought over six billion simulated battles in which approximately 1.2 trillion virtual troops fell and over 175 million castles were plundered. 1 The game remains active and continues to receive regular content and technical updates, demonstrating the viability of the long-term live-service model for browser-based gaming. 5
Goodgame Empire is a free-to-play medieval castle-building strategy game developed and published by Goodgame Studios. The browser-based massively multiplayer online (MMO) game launched in beta on August 14, 2011, and quickly became the company's flagship title. 1 Players build and manage a medieval castle, train armies, form alliances, and compete against both AI-controlled enemies and other players in a persistent online world. 2
Goodgame Studios founded in Hamburg
2009
Goodgame Empire beta launch
August 2011
Empire: Four Kingdoms mobile launch
January 2013
Lifetime revenue surpasses $800 million
August 2017
Acquired by Stillfront Group
January 2018
Flash to HTML5 migration completed
2020
10th anniversary celebrated
August 2021
Empire brand surpasses €1 billion in revenue
December 2022
The game has been localized into 26 languages and has attracted over 120 million registered players across more than 240 countries, making it one of the most widely played browser games ever produced. 1
In Goodgame Empire, players start by constructing a castle in the Great Empire, the game's primary kingdom. The core gameplay loop revolves around gathering three main resources — food, wood, and stone — along with coins and rubies (a premium currency). As players progress to higher levels, they unlock access to three additional kingdoms: the Everwinter Glacier, the Burning Sands, and the Fire Peaks. Each kingdom allows players to build a new castle and produce unique resources such as coal, oil, and glass. 2
Players can also establish up to three outposts in the Great Empire, which serve as specialized resource production centers. Military strategy plays a central role, as players recruit and equip commanders with armor and weapons, then deploy troops in both PvE and PvP combat. Alliance systems enable cooperative play, and regular in-game events and quests provide ongoing engagement. 2
Goodgame Studios was founded in Hamburg, Germany in June 2009 by brothers Kai and Christian Wawrzinek along with Fabian Ritter. 3 The company initially released several smaller browser games including Goodgame Poker (2009) and Goodgame Gangster (2010) before launching Goodgame Empire in August 2011. 2
The game saw rapid early growth, with more than 12 million players registering during its first year alone. 1 Goodgame Studios delivered monthly content updates from launch, releasing over 250 updates by 2017. 4 By that year, the game's lifetime revenue had surpassed $800 million, leading the studio to brand it as the most successful German game of all time. 4
One of the game's most significant technical challenges was the migration from Adobe Flash to HTML5. With approximately one million lines of code to transfer, the team undertook the conversion beginning around 2017 and completed it in 2020, ahead of Flash's end-of-life in December 2020. 4 5
The success of Goodgame Empire spawned several spin-off titles under the "Empire" brand:
By December 2022, the Empire brand collectively surpassed one billion euros in total revenue, with over 220 million registered players across all titles. 5
Goodgame Empire and its spin-offs have received numerous industry accolades, including Best Browser Game at the European Games Awards, Best Strategy Browser MMO at the MMO of the Year Awards, and recognition as an evergreen title at the German Developer Award 2021. Empire: Four Kingdoms was named Best Casual Browser MMO and Best Mobile Game at the European Games Awards. 5
In December 2017, Swedish gaming conglomerate Stillfront Group acquired Goodgame Studios. 3 Under Stillfront's ownership, the studio has continued to operate from its Hamburg headquarters with additional offices in Tokyo, maintaining its focus on free-to-play games. As of 2024, the studio employs approximately 270 people and serves over 500 million registered users across all of its titles. 3
By the time of its tenth anniversary in 2021, Goodgame Empire players had collectively spent over 250 billion hours in the game across more than four billion sessions. The community had fought over six billion simulated battles in which approximately 1.2 trillion virtual troops fell and over 175 million castles were plundered. 1 The game remains active and continues to receive regular content and technical updates, demonstrating the viability of the long-term live-service model for browser-based gaming. 5
