to be merged, leading to 20 jobs being cut within marketing, PR and business development. In the same month, the company announced a separation from the former CEO of Frogster Online Gaming GmbH, Seth Iorio. A closure of the Berlin site was not considered. On April 22, 2013, Gameforge revealed that the location in Berlin was to be dissolved from the 30th of September 2013. Organizational and economic motives were stated as reasons. CEO Alexander Rösner announced that the remaining 150 (approx.) employees were offered continued employment at the Karlsruhe offices. In 2008, Gameforge won the Red Herring 100 Europe Award as the only German game company. Additionally, the two founders and former CEOs Klaas Kersting and Alexander Rösner were elected entrepreneurs of the year in 2008. In 2016, Gameforge announced the layoff of approximately 90 employees, mostly from its mobile division, as it shifts its focus away from the mobile platform. CEO Alexander Rösner explained that the shift was being born out of increased opportunity in the Free-to-play marketplace. Previous to the layoffs, it was reported that Gameforge was unsuccessful in the mobile market. As of July 2018, the company employs 300 people. In the summer of 2018 as well as summer of 2019, Gameforge supported the Schlosslichtspiele of Karlsruhe as a Main Partner and got to use the palace's facade as a giant canvas projecting digital artwork enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of guests that visited the palace grounds. In January 2022, Gameforge announced the company's first partnership with an indie developer, the Russian studio Sernur.Tech, to release Trigon: Space Story, a single-player roguelike videogame. Six months later, Gameforge announced another single-player roguelite and partnership with an indie studio, Whiteboard Games, to release the twin-stick shooter I See Red. Awards In the years 2008 and 2009, Gameforge won the Technology Fast 50 Award. While Gameforge won the award in the category "Rising Stars" in 2008, the company was already entered in the normal category in 2009 and was able to reach second place with a 5-year growth of 6261.19 or 19 percent, more than 2000 percent ahead of Bigpoint GmbH, their closest competitor. Likewise, Gameforge won two Stevie Awards as the "Most Innovative Company of the Year in Europe" and "Best New Product or Service of the Year - Media & Entertainment " in 2009 and was able to prevail against Bigpoint. In the same year, the company