From student hobby to multimillion-dollar company: game giant Vlambeer will stop after ten years

With those words Rami Ismail from Alphen aan den Rijn and Jan Willem Nijman from Gouda announce the end of Vlambeer on social media on Tuesday. They do this purposefully on September 1, exactly ten years after the founding of their own game studio. “This is not a sad day for us, but the happy end to a dazzling decade,” said the duo.

Vlambeer made an international breakthrough with the game in 2013 Ridiculous Fishing, in which you have to catch fish in the most absurd way. With other game titles like Air routers, Nuclear Throne in Super Crate Box the company has a turnover of millions of euros. Numerous prizes have also been won.

Lectures to underprivileged youth

‘We are harking back a bit to those old arcade cabinets’, Ismail outlines Vlambeer’s style in July of this year, during a extensive interview with Omroep West and media partner Studio Alphen on his native soil. ‘Throw in a coin and then play until you’re done. That, but without coins. ‘

The success of Vlambeer enables the 31-year-old Alphenaar to travel the world and give lectures in countries where young people have virtually no chance of making games. For his contribution to improving the industry, he receives the prestigious Game Developers Choice Ambassador Award in 2018. You can compare this award with an Oscar for filmmakers.

‘Terrible Business Profits’

Now that after ten years (‘much longer than we could have ever imagined’) their joint adventure has come to an end, Ismail and companion ‘JW’ Nijman look back with nostalgia. “It feels like we have achieved everything we wanted, and we are extremely grateful for the past years.” They reached that conclusion in a telephone conversation, Ismail explains when asked.

We just keep doing cool things

The launch of FFFLOOD, a game they have been working on for ten years, but which is not finished. Cryptically, that game boils down to dropping ten-ton cannons from space to make “terrible business profits.”

Company will not be sold

Speaking of business, Ismail insists that the company’s name and released games are not being sold. ‘We are proud of what we have achieved, so the games will remain available to play. And we continue to do cool things. Jan Willem is busy making sustainable games and I want to focus on initiatives to help underprivileged young people. ‘

In addition, there will be a game from Vlambeer that is ready on the market one of these months, entitled ULTRABUGS. ‘We can’t wait to see what the future holds. Thank you for letting us bring arcade back a while, ‘the two founders conclude. The flame has gone out and the bear is allowed to go to bed.

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