Deep Silver

Deep Silver is an Austrian video game publisher founded in 2002 as a label of Koch Media, a German media company headquartered in Planegg, Bavaria. The label built its catalog around the Dead Island, Metro, and Saints Row franchises before Koch Media was acquired by THQ Nordic parent company Embracer Group in 2018. Deep Silver now operates under the Plaion division of Embracer Group, which rebranded Koch Media in 2022. The label’s catalog spans survival horror, post-apocalyptic shooters, open-world action, and RPGs.

Dead Island

Dead Island, developed by Techland and released in September 2011, was Deep Silver’s breakthrough title. A first-person survival action game set on a zombie-infested tropical resort, it was preceded by one of the most discussed game trailers in history, a slow-motion reverse-chronology depiction of a family’s final moments that went viral and set expectations the game itself did not fully meet. It still sold over five million copies. Dead Island 2, developed by Dambuster Studios after a troubled development that cycled through multiple studios over nearly a decade, finally released in April 2023 to positive reviews that surprised many who had written the sequel off.

Metro

The Metro series, developed by 4A Games and based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels, is Deep Silver’s most critically acclaimed franchise. Metro 2033 released in 2010, Metro: Last Light in 2013, and Metro Exodus in February 2019. The series follows survivors of nuclear war living in the tunnels of the Moscow Metro, combining tense survival horror with a dense post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Metro Exodus was the franchise’s strongest commercial and critical performance, expanding the scope from the tunnels to a cross-Russia journey. A Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition released in 2021 with ray tracing support. Metro 2039, a new entry in the series, was announced in 2026.

Saints Row

Deep Silver acquired the Saints Row franchise when Koch Media purchased Volition, the series developer, in 2012. Saints Row IV released in August 2013 and leaned further into the series’ comedic absurdism with superpowers and alien invasions. Agents of Mayhem, a Saints Row spin-off, released in August 2017. Saints Row (2022) was a full reboot with a new cast and setting that received mixed reviews and underperformed commercially, contributing to Volition’s closure by Embracer Group in August 2023.

Koch Media, Embracer, and Plaion

Koch Media, Deep Silver’s parent company, was acquired by Embracer Group in February 2018 for approximately €121 million. As Embracer expanded aggressively through acquisitions, Koch Media’s publishing operations grew under the Deep Silver label. In 2022, Embracer rebranded Koch Media as Plaion, consolidating the publishing operations under a new parent name while retaining Deep Silver as the consumer-facing game label. When Embracer’s financial difficulties led to widespread studio closures and restructuring in 2023 and 2024, Deep Silver’s operations were affected alongside the rest of the group.