Alex Brüggemann, , Stefan Nyul and founded Piranha Bytes in
Bochum in 1997, incorporating it as Piranha Bytes Software GmbH. In July 2024, it was confirmed that the studio had shut down in late June after failing to find such a partner. Some of the former employees founded the independent studio Pithead, which is being led by husband and wife Björn and Jenny Pankratz, who have been part of Piranha Bytes more or less since its inception. They have not yet announced what project this small team will work on. On 10 March 2025, four former Piranha Bytes employees announced the formation of Brainlag Games, a new independent studio. Their first game,
Rootbound, is scheduled to be released in 2026. == Games ==