Here’s what you should know about us
Osmotic Studios is an award-winning independent game development company based in Hamburg, Germany founded in 2014 by Melanie Taylor, Daniel Marx, and Michael Kluge after graduating from HAW Hamburg. Always striving to test out new ways to convey a convincing narrative, the company focusses on story-centric games with socially relevant and meaningful topics at their hearts.
Our debut game Orwell, released in 2016, puts players in the shoes of a government agent in the eponymous surveillance program. Tasked with spying on suspect persons, players investigate their online documents and files, and listen in on their chats and phone calls. Orwell has received widespread critical acclaim and recognition from The Game Awards, the Independent Games Festival, and SXSW Gaming.
In 2018, we released the second game Orwell: Ignorance is Strength, a follow-up to Orwell focusing on the seemingly omnipresent topic of misinformation and fake news. Shortly after we also released a mobile version of Orwell.
Since then we have been brewing our upcoming title, Closer the Distance, a unique mix of slice of life drama and life-sim.
Significant awards and recognition
- The Game Awards 2016 Nomination “Games for Impact” for Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You
- IGF Awards Finalist “Excellence in Narrative” for Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You
- SXSW Gaming Awards Nomination “Cultural Innovation” for Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You
- Deutscher Computerspielpreis (German Video Games Awards) 2017 Winner “Best Serious Game” for Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You
- Deutscher Entwicklerpreis (German Developer Awards) 2017 Winner “Best Story” for Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You
- Deutscher Entwicklerpreis (German Developer Awards) 2017 Winner “Best Innovation” for Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You
Selected publications
- After Cambridge Analytica, this game about government surveillance feels quaint – The Verge, April 16, 2018, English
- How a game is seeking to change the minds of politicians – Polygon, April 6, 2018, English
- You Will Ruin Lives in This Surveillance Game – the Only Question Is Why – Waypoint, April 6, 2018, English
- Orwell, das Videospiel (Video) – ARTE, April 27, 2017, German / French
- You Can Make A Game About Government Surveillance, But You Can’t Make People Care – Kotaku, March 9, 2017, English
- Computerspiel “Orwell”: Der Überwachungsstaat bin ich – Spiegel Online, February 5, 2017, German
- Believing is seeing: Orwell and surveillance sims – Gamasutra, September 15, 2016, English
- A game about freedom of speech – Polygon, August 22, 2016, English
- Orwell will have you play as the surveillance state for once – KillScreen, August 08, 2016, English
- The computer game forcing you to question your views about privacy online – Huck Magazine, August 31, 2016, English
- Orwell – Der Überwachungsstaat ist hier und wir helfen mit – Gamestar, August 21, 2016, German
- Interview: Orwell Developers Osmotic Studios – PopGeeks, August 17, 2016, English
- Orwell is a surveillance thriller about the ethics of data mining – PC Gamer, August 09, 2016, English
- Welle Nerdpol Podcast #8 Orwell – Welle Nerdpol, October 26, 2015, German