Headup is a hybrid games publishing and development company providing players worldwide with the best content in the independent gaming sector. Established in 2009, it is active on all major platforms such as consoles, mobile devices and PC, and was awarded as "Best Publisher" at the German Developers Awards in 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2019. Since February 2021, Headup is part of the Thunderful Group based in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Usually playing games just to have something to complain about, Danny evolved a deep love for only a few of them. While growing a steady profound knowledge about everything related to games he started to realize that working in the games industry was the only right choice to do. Now he handles all the sweet sweet first party connections at Headup.
In June 1992, Dieter beat the competition to become the best German Sonic The Hedgehog player at the first official SEGA championship. This game and endless hours spent in Ultima VI ignited the spark to turn games into a professional career at some point – which he started as an intern at Ubisoft fifteen years later. After further stops at Deep Silver and the RTL/Bertelsmann group, he embarked on the crazy venture known today as Headup Games.
When he was 18 years old, Gregor occupied an abandoned house (legally!), together with his best friend, a big TV screen and a grey box called "PlayStation". After one week of nearly non-stop playing, he was addicted to videogames and virtual worlds in general. How awful! Years later, after some years of working and studying, he started at Headup Games and became Headup's PR Manager in no time. Definitely one of the best decisions he ever made!
Marcel got the NES for Christmas 1986 and has been a Nintendo fanboy since then. Several console generations later he started his studies in industrial engineering but instead of working in the automobile industry he wanted to do games. After internships at Ubisoft and RTL Games he became a product manager at astragon, working on different simulation games, including the famous Farming Simulator brand. He has been part of Headup Games from the very beginning.
Spending weeks during his childhood on solving Monkey Island II on the Amiga 1200, Mark evolved a passion about video games in his early days. While growing up he became especially interested in console gaming. After finishing school he decided to get a Computer Science degree. After gaining experience in the games industry in companies like RTL, VIS Games and Independent Arts, he joined Headup in 2012 to build up an internal development unit.
After he found out about making Levels via the Valve Hammer Editor in 2000, Julian went on a design spree to build his own worlds in Half-Life and its mods, leading him to study game design and making games. Not satisfied he founded an indie studio and worked on several games and brands like Might and Magic, Farming Simulator and the Crysis Board Game before he joined Headup in its quest to support other developers bringing their games to console. Now he is handling console development and event management.
Julian grew up influenced by lots of different board and pen & paper games but also with access to Commodore 64, Amiga, PC and of course different Playstation and Nintendo consoles. He took his first steps in the games industry as an intern and working part time as a game tester for Softgold / THQ back in 96/97. Before joining the team of Headup Games, Julian had worked as Product Manager and Head of Submission Management for rondomedia and astragon.
Sunita started her apprenticeship in office communication at Headup and is now responsible for all the finances and contracts. She supports the work environment and loves to create and care for the best possible atmosphere.
After a rural childhood in the depths of the Sauerland Tim started playing with the gorgeous Half-Life in 1998 - and never stopped since. While working in an advertising agency and leading the marketing department of a medical wholesaler he wrote for several gaming magazines and played hundreds of pc games in more than 17 years. He loves Bud Spencer and listening to OSTs. With joining Headup Games he made his dream of working in the gaming industry come true. The best decision for years - right after saying "Yes" to his wife, of course.
He trained his first Pokemons before he was able to read, known for his mighty Dragoran he knew his destiny would be to create games himself. His analytic mind paired with a sense of chaos gave him the name "world destroyer" soon. When fate made him cross the Headup crew during his Bachelor degree, he decided to stay. Side by side with this company his young coarse force is transforming into a bunched directed energy.
Lina always wanted to pursue a creative career, and while she loved reading and drawing, she was introduced to the Nintendo DS Lite in 2009 by her best friend and loved it. Later, her friends introduced her to “Minecraft” and the German YouTuber Gronkh; through him she discovered the wide range of games and that there is a way to create outstanding worlds, interesting characters and more when you become a game artist. To take the first step into the gaming industry she started with an internship at Headup and stayed there as an apprentice for media design and community.
With his fascination for video games sparked ever since he was first introduced to his trusty Game Boy, console gaming, and Online RPGs, Niko followed his passion for games, creative work and coding through various jobs and internships working for NBC Europe, as Lead Designer for a German web development company, and with the dawn of HTML5, becoming a self-employed freelancer working on several browsergames, eventually making his own browsergame engine and online-multiplayer game before joining Headup as a full-time game developer.
Can is a lifelong gamer! And he played many roles in his gaming career: he was a Pokémon trainer since the first generation, he was king in Stronghold, searched for the earth in X-Beyond the Frontier and he saved Hyrule countless times! He made his dream come true after his master degree in sociology and started his career as a social media and community manager. He manages to be a bridge between publisher, developers and gaming community and loves to be in touch with every party in the discussion. He is always amazed by the creativity and positivity in the community but also knows how to listen to criticism and moderate discussions.
While he grew up in a household with a gaming enthusiast - which they called his brother - he had access to almost all the popular game systems of the time. Inevitably he developed an affection for games, which was only strengthened by his own PlayStation and Game Boy. Because of his affinity for video games and technology he decided to study computer science, but he needed something more application-oriented and took the direct way into the gaming industry. This path led him to Headup, where he is now finishing his apprenticeship as an IT specialist in application development.
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