In 2002, the company was founded by Heiko Hubertz as m.wire GmbH in
Hamburg, Germany's second largest city. Heiko Hubertz started this company with a football management game in which every player transfer would cost a small amount for famous football players. Bigpoint's first game was
Icefighter, an ice hockey management simulation. Till the end of 2004 there were further games launched, "F1Manager" and "Fussballmanager" (Football Manager in German). In 2005 the company was renamed to e-sport GmbH. In 2006
Samwer brothers with
European Founders Fund and beginning of 2007
United Internet invested in the company. The company quickly expanded, having one million registered users in 2006. By 2007, Bigpoint was running 22 browser games. In June 2008,
General Electric and
NBC Universal, along with European private-equity group
GMT Communications Partners, bought out a 70 percent share of Bigpoint, leaving the remaining 30 percent share under Heiko Hubertz's control. By 2009, Bigpoint reached more than 100 million users and had a revenue of more than 50 million Euros. On April 26, 2011,
TA Associates and
Summit Partners invested $350 million into Bigpoint to become the majority shareholders. On May 16, 2011, Bigpointdotcom posted a video on YouTube.com announcing its new office building. Previous shareholders Comcast Interactive Capital's Peacock Equity Fund sold its holdings in this transaction. GMT Communications Partners and GE sold a majority of their stakes. Hubertz retained his existing ownership stake in the company. In May 2011, Bigpoint had more than 800 employees worldwide. On October 23, 2012, Bigpoint laid off 120 staff members. At the same time Heiko Hubertz stepped down as CEO. In March 2016, the developer was acquired by
Youzu Interactive (
GTArcade) in an €80 million ($89.68 million) stock buyout. ==Used technology==