Since 1997, the MMORPG Tibia (PC) has existed. The online role-playing game from Regensburg has been successful internationally and celebrates new player records in 2021. We at MeinMMO spoke with Stephan Vogler, one of the founders of the studio, about the success of Tibia and about “MMORPGs made in Germany”.
This is the background of the interview: The German MMORPG Tibia was so strong in 2020 that they were able to pay their employees bonuses that effectively doubled their annual salaries.
All metrics related to Tibia and the MMO studio CipSoft sounded fantastic in 2020:
- The average active player count in 2020 increased by a third to 100,000 concurrent players
- CipSoft’s revenue grew by 10 million euros to 25 million
- The company’s profit doubled
In international research on exciting MMORPG news, Tibia, an MMORPG from 1997, is frequently mentioned, and yet we discuss it far too rarely here in Germany. Tibia originated more than 25 years ago in Regensburg as an idea from a few students. Their company CipSoft is still located in Regensburg and has since grown to 100 employees.
For us at MeinMMO, it was therefore high time to conduct an interview with the creators of the MMORPG. Stephan Vogler co-founded CipSoft at that time and is now the managing director of the MMO studio.
“Yahoo didn’t even have a category for our game”
MeinMMO: Hello Mr. Vogler, to set the timeline. Tibia was released in 1997. At that time, Helmut Kohl was still Chancellor, Toni Kroos was 7 years old, and the golden age of MMORPGs only began 8 years later with WoW. The idea for Tibia came even earlier. How did you come up with the idea to develop an MMORPG in Regensburg in 1995? Which games inspired Tibia?
Stephan Vogler: After graduating from high school, we came into contact with the internet at the university. This fascinated us greatly. It was something completely new. At that time, many universities had so-called CIP rooms – that’s where our company name comes from – where computers were available that allowed easy internet access. Even without logging in.
As avid gamers, we obviously searched for games first. We were fans of Ultima and particularly interested in role-playing games, so we quickly came across so-called MUDs, “Multi User Dungeons”. However, these were purely text-based, so we wanted to do it all with graphics.
The project name was therefore “GMUD” – “Graphical MUD”. That was our basic idea and our unique selling proposition: an online role-playing game with graphics. When we went online with Tibia on January 7, 1997, there was no category for it on Yahoo. One was created specifically for us. 🙂
When I told him about the project, he laughed at us
MeinMMO: Was there a kind of “online gaming” scene in Germany back then, did developers exchange ideas?
Vogler: There was no real scene, no. We only exchanged a little with the admin of a German MUD. When I told him about our project, he laughed at us. What we were planning was certainly very ambitious.
When we started researching the project on the internet, we stumbled across job postings from the creators of Ultima and pieced together that they were working on Ultima Online. There was simply nothing else on the topic. We found one book that dealt with internet programming under Unix, and we bought it.
MeinMMO: How did you recruit your first employees?
Vogler: The first employee we hired was responsible for player support. We quickly realized how important this function is for an online game and that we couldn’t manage it alongside everything else. It was amusing: we sat during the interview on my grandmother’s dusty sofa while the applicant was sweating in a suit and tie in the sweltering heat. It was all still very unprofessional back then.
But our first employee still works at CipSoft and has ensured that we have since always stated that one doesn’t have to dress formally for a job interview.
MeinMMO: Did you always intend to stay in Regensburg from the beginning, or would a move to Munich or Berlin have been an option?
Vogler: The thought of moving occasionally crosses our minds, especially when we are looking for new employees. In a larger city, one might sometimes have an advantage, especially when needing specialized people. On the other hand, many are with us precisely because we are located in Eastern Bavaria. Anyone who lives here and wants to make games comes to us first. Therefore, no move is planned. In principle, the location of the company is not that important because online games can be developed anywhere there is internet access.
“There are no layoff waves and crunch in our company”
MeinMMO: How many employees do you have today, and what would you say characterizes your company culture? What is typical for you as a studio?
Vogler: The number of employees has been steadily growing since our founding. Currently, nearly 100 people work at CipSoft. This is also due to our corporate culture: we value stability. Long-term success and secure jobs are more important to us than short-term profit. We have always remained independent, which means investors don’t interfere, and we can set our own goals. Layoff waves or crunch, as they often occur in the gaming industry, do not happen at CipSoft.
At the same time, we do not rest on our success but are always looking for new ideas. Whether for Tibia or a completely new project, such as our blockchain game LiteBringer.
That’s why almost everyone knows Tibia in Brazil
MeinMMO: The global interest in Tibia is highest in Poland, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, and Sweden. In Germany, Tibia has hardly any significance today, according to Google Trends: Interest in Poland is 25 times higher than in Germany. Do you have an explanation for that?
Vogler: There is no single explanation. This has various causes depending on the country. In Brazil, Tibia took root for different reasons than, for example, in Sweden.
Let’s take Brazil, the most important market for Tibia. In that country, almost everyone knows the game. One reason is that World of Warcraft wasn’t available for purchase at first. Later, WoW was only available as an expensive CD in stores, not as a download. The import duties in Brazil are very high, making both games and computers very expensive. An MMORPG that can be downloaded like Tibia and has low hardware requirements, therefore, had better chances. Also, the fact that we opted for a freemium model very early on, allowing people to play the game for free, worked in our favor.
MeinMMO: We once had a story on MeinMMO that many players in Venezuela play the MMORPG Runescape to earn money. The economy also seems very important in Tibia. There are reports about items that go for thousands of Euros. What is your stance on players earning money in your MMORPG?
Vogler: We value players’ freedom very much, and that extends further in Tibia than in other games. We want players to be able to pass on items they have earned to others. That is part of the game and the freedom you have in Tibia. However, this almost always leads to a black market. Our influence on that is very limited, as the transfer of real money takes place outside our game, thus escaping our control.
Of course, we hope that the situation for the people in Venezuela improves and that they can return to more regular work.
For the most expensive character in Tibia, a player demanded more than €10,000
MeinMMO: According to your website, revenue has steadily increased over the years and was over 15 million euros in 2019. How do you make money from Tibia? For example, I read that you collect over 400,000 euros a year just from taxes on in-game trading.
Vogler: Tibia has always been playable for free to a large extent. Those who want more can upgrade their account to a premium account, gaining access to more content and features. Additionally, mounts and similar things can be purchased.
In August 2020, we introduced the “Char Bazaar,” which has proven quite successful. The trading of characters has always existed, even though we never supported it. However, there’s little we can do since that also takes place outside of the game—carrying all associated risks for buyers and sellers. So we wanted to create a reasonable and safe solution for players. The most expensive character sold in the game so far was a druid at level 1123, and a player demanded more than €10,000 for it.
MMORPG Tibia booming during the pandemic, rewarding employees
MeinMMO: 2020 was marked by the pandemic. How did that affect Tibia’s success? Do you feel your MMORPG has become more important to players?
Vogler: The pandemic has definitely shown how important online games are for many people. Last year, they were one of the few ways to maintain social contacts and do something together. Of course, we benefited from that. The number of daily players in Tibia increased by about a third to over 100,000, and we were also able to significantly increase our profits.
Since our employees are involved in the company’s success, this means they receive a bonus equivalent to a full year’s salary. Additionally, we have donated over €350,000 to various charitable organizations engaged in fighting Corona, partly with support from the great Tibia community. It’s simply important for us to give back, especially in such a situation.
MeinMMO: Many MMORPG developers say: the players’ tastes have changed. People want to invest less time at a stretch, play less in groups, and do more alone. Have you noticed this trend, and do you address it?
Vogler: Certain trends have always existed, and players have always been very diverse. Earlier, there were fewer alternatives; today, there are many more games specifically targeting certain player types. However, the core mechanics of an MMORPG still work just as well as ever. Tibia tries to accommodate everyone: you can meet up with friends, compete with other players, or explore the incredibly vast world and its history.
You can also do things that are not permitted in other games. At its core, it’s about giving the player a choice between being good or evil. If they can’t do anything mean, they also don’t have the choice to be good. But that might get a bit too philosophical. 🙂
MeinMMO: What role does Twitch play for you today? On English-speaking Twitch, Tibia is hardly represented, but in Brazil, there are several streamers who show it around the clock. Do you have contact with the streamers? Do you try to promote that deliberately or just let it run its course?
Vogler: We certainly find Tibia’s success on Twitch to be great. Due to the many freedoms, the game is very interesting for streamers and viewers. Dramas happen in Tibia quite frequently. We have increasingly pointed our players toward streams in recent years but do not work directly with Twitch. The game itself is interesting, not some marketing campaign.
We also have no contact with the streamers. Many are in a guild that is involved in a dispute with other players, so we prefer to stay out of it to avoid giving the impression of taking sides.
The biggest influence on MMORPGs has been the smartphone
MeinMMO: What has been the biggest change for your gaming studio in the last 20 years? You have personally witnessed the shift from print to online media, the rise of YouTube and Twitch. Has that been relevant for you? Or are there completely different things?
Vogler: We have certainly seen quite a bit come and go. The biggest influence has probably been the smartphone. MMORPGs peaked around 2008/2009; with the advent of smartphones, player counts have declined across nearly all MMORPGs. In some ways, we saw that coming and developed TibiaME, the first mobile MMORPG.
MeinMMO: The MMORPG Runescape is younger than you and, like Tibia, is considered an old-school MMORPG. It has experienced a renaissance in recent years. Do you see parallels?
Vogler: Runescape is cool, and we’re glad that others have had long-term success. There are indeed some parallels. Interest in Tibia has increased even before the pandemic. By the way, Corona also prevented a long-planned meeting between CipSoft and the Runescape creators Jagex. We have crossed paths at various conferences in recent years and were finally looking forward to meeting and exchanging ideas properly.
MeinMMO: What draws people to such an old-school MMORPG? Are many new players joining, or are people simply remaining in these MMORPGs for a long time?
Vogler: There are certainly new players, but many remain loyal to us for a long time. Or they return after a few years. We are also actively trying to reactivate old players, as we have solved many issues Tibia had in the past. DDOS attacks, connectivity issues, and botting are hardly an issue in the game anymore. We have really made some progress that other developers envy us for. Nevertheless, we continue to stay focused on that and do not rest on our laurels.
Could a successful MMORPG come from Germany in 2021?
MeinMMO: Would it be possible today to develop a modern, internationally successful MMORPG in Germany?
Vogler: Yes, absolutely. There are several studios in Germany that are capable of making such a game. Sandbox Interactive has shown this with Albion Online. However, one must think carefully about how to distinguish oneself from the competition. Even the federal government now sees the potential and is doing more for game funding.
MeinMMO: What would an MMORPG look like if you developed it today, if you had all the possibilities in the world?
Vogler: If we had had the capabilities of today in the 90s, we would have made the world even more dynamic and given NPCs their own lives. Back then, we even had the vision that players could freely converse with NPCs, which is why Tibia has an interface that seems somewhat unusual today. However, the technology simply wasn’t available back then. Today, thanks to artificial intelligence, you can do truly astonishing things.
MeinMMO: Many MMORPGs from the past are releasing classic servers where the game goes back to how it was 15 or 20 years ago. Would that be an idea for Tibia as well?
The demand to restore an earlier state of the game can be found in every MMORPG. But that’s an illusion because the changes made since then would again be necessary. For example, we had to change certain things about the gameplay back then because there were bots. If you were to roll that back, the bots would return as well. All the broken and toxic aspects would re-emerge. From our perspective, a better approach is to consider what players really want, what they miss, and then try to address those aspects. Thus, there are different types of servers in Tibia, for example, with retro hardcore PvP.
CipSoft was ahead of its time with the world’s first mobile MMORPG
MeinMMO: As early as 2003, you released Tibia on mobile, making it the world’s first mobile MMORPG. Today, mobile MMORPGs are massive in South Korea and China. Were you perhaps 10 years ahead of your time with the idea?
Vogler: Yes, definitely. There were no flat rates back then, which meant that some players had to pay hundreds of euros to the telecommunications company at the end of the month. The turning point was the introduction of the iPhone, which brought flat rates along with it. Only afterwards did mobile online gaming become a topic. Our possibilities with TibiaME were limited at that time. Nevertheless, the game has a loyal fanbase in Southeast Asia and has even been growing since the end of 2019.
MeinMMO: Many of our readers are enthusiastic MMORPG players. You are located in Regensburg. If one of our readers says: That’s my dream job, that’s where I want to be. How should they structure the next 5 years of their life for you to say, “We’ll take you.” I assume just playing MMORPGs isn’t enough, is it?
Vogler: That’s correct. 🙂 However, playing MMORPGs is still not a bad idea. We always ask our applicants if they play online games. I would definitely recommend finishing school, training, or studies, and getting involved in game development on the side. So, not just consuming but also producing. Simply do what interests you.
At CipSoft, there are many different jobs because we do everything ourselves, including customer support and marketing. We appreciate every application that shows passion behind it.
MeinMMO: Mr. Vogler, thank you very much for the conversation.
MMORPGs are among the games that age exceptionally well and are much better today than at release. Many players appreciate that:
