Kings of Soccer developer Hugo Games has opened a new studio in Berlin headed up by former King technical lead Moritz Voss.

The studio head, who comes from King’s own Berlin studio, worked on Candy Crush Jelly Saga. Prior to joining King he worked at Handygames for over six years.

Hugo Games has opened the new office as it looks to branch out into the match-three genre, utilising existing global IP. One of the company’s first titles in the category will be based on The Adventures of Tintin.

It said it felt that the Berlin area was the ideal place to put together a “dedicated expert team”. The company also labelled Berlin a mobile games development hotspot with plenty of talent ready to tap.

Hugo Games’ other studios include its Copenhagen HQ and offices in Sacramento and Nottingham.

Previously it's published titles such as the Hugo series, Kings of Soccer and Cristiano Ronaldo: Kick'n'run. It's currently at work on titles including a Vikings mobile game and Doodle Jump Space Chase.

European expansion

“I’m very excited to join Hugo Games and use what I have learned and experienced over the recent years at King,” said Voss.

“I plan to bring together a strong and hand-picked team of my own here in Berlin that can execute on Hugo Games’ strategy of making successful mobile games based on global IPs.”

Hugo Games CEO Henrik Nielsen added: “We consider the hire of Moritz Voss as our new studio lead as a major coup because of his track record at King studio – one of the most successful mobile gaming companies in the world.

“Moritz Voss was instrumental in building a game studio in Berlin from scratch to over 80 people and we are very proud that he now has joined us for a new challenge at Hugo Games – bringing together a highly experienced Berlin team in the coming months.

“The timing is perfect because Hugo Games is the first mobile developer to be granted the permission to build a puzzle game around the iconic The Adventures of Tintin comic book franchise.”