Gothic (video game)

Gothic is a 2001 action role-playing game developed by Piranha Bytes for Windows and the first game of the Gothic game franchise. A port, titled Gothic Classic, was released in 2023 and in 2026 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and iOS. Gothic was well-received by critics, who credited the game for its story, world design, atmosphere, interaction with other in-game characters, and graphics, but criticized it for its many bugs, an unusual control scheme and high system requirements. The English localization was described as less well written than the language versions in which the game became popular. Gothic was one of the first European RPGs with fully voiced dialogues. At the time of its release and with the release of patches in the early 2000s, Gothic and its sequels became popular in Germany and Austria, Poland, and Russia, which led to the creation of fan and modding communities in said countries. In 2026, a remake of the game, titled Gothic 1 Remake, was published by THQ Nordic, who owns the rights to the series after the acquisition and subsequent dissolution of Piranha Bytes.