Gothic (series)

Gothic is a fantasy action role-playing game franchise created by German developer Piranha Bytes and since May 2019 owned by THQ Nordic. The series is known for its immersive and reactive world, where the environment and NPCs respond dynamically to the player's actions, making exploration and interaction with the world a core aspect of the gameplay.

The series debuted with the release of Gothic in 2001, followed by Gothic II in 2002 and its expansion Night of the Raven in 2003. The last main installment, Gothic 3, was released in 2006. A spin-off titled Arcania, was released in 2010 by Spellbound Entertainment but is considered separate from the main series after Piranha Bytes regained the rights in 2011.

At the time of its release, the series reached wide popularity in German and Eastern-European countries, while little known in the rest of Europe and North America. Owing to its popularity in Poland in particular, where CD Projekt localized and published the main series of Gothic, the first two Gothic games became – according to developers of CD Projekt itself – a primary influence in CD Projekt's development of The Witcher role playing series.

In February 2020, THQ Nordic announced the production of a remake of the first Gothic game, to be developed by Alkimia Interactive. The developers declared to stay faithful to the 2001 classic with the remake, updating its visuals and gameplay and correcting its flaws.