KAIKO is a German video game studio based in Frankfurt, specializing in the technically demanding work of remasters, remakes, and cross-platform ports, alongside developing new content for established properties. The studio's roots stretch back to autumn 1990, when it was founded—initially under the name A.U.D.I.O.S. (Art Under Design, Imaginations Of Sound)—by renowned game composer Chris Hülsbeck together with Frank Matzke and Peter Thierolf, producing well-regarded action and arcade titles during the European home-computer era before financial difficulties led to the studio's dissolution around 1995. In a rare second act, the same founding trio revived the KAIKO name in the mid-2010s, formally re-establishing the studio in 2014 and channeling decades of combined development experience into a new specialty: the meticulous modernization of existing games for contemporary hardware.
In its modern incarnation, KAIKO earned a reputation as a dependable "asset-care" specialist, handling the intricate engineering required to bring acclaimed action-adventure, hack-and-slash, action-RPG, and third-person shooter franchises to new generations of consoles through remastered and definitive editions that preserved the originals while updating visuals, performance, and platform support. This porting and remastering expertise made the compact studio an attractive acquisition target, and in May 2021 it was purchased by THQ Nordic, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary within the wider Embracer Group network. Operating from Frankfurt as part of THQ Nordic's constellation of development studios, KAIKO continues to focus on preserving and revitalizing established titles for modern audiences while contributing new content to selected intellectual properties, drawing on a lineage that connects the European gaming scene of the early 1990s to the present day.
