Introduction
At GDC 2025, we sat down with Rockfish Games, the German developer best known for their hit space shooter series Everspace, to discuss their transition to KLASH. Rockfish was founded by former Fishlabs developers after the acquisition by Plaion (then Koch Media) and has made a name for itself with high-quality, visually stunning games.
With multiple moving parts in their game production pipeline, the team realized the need for a unified tool to streamline their workflow. That’s where KLASH came in.
“We thought it was about time to switch to a different tool and to have different departments using the same platform,” said Creative and Art Director Uwe Wütherich.
The Challenge: Managing Complex Audiovisual Workflows
For over ten years, Rockfish relied on a legacy system to manage its collaborative game development process. However, as the studio transitioned between projects, they found themselves needing a more efficient and centralized solution. While still maintaining some of their older systems, they started integrating KLASH to streamline their workflows. Uwe explains,
“Unfortunately, we cannot change systems completely overnight, but we are using KLASH as much as possible and gathering experience to refine our workflows further.”
This gradual transition allows Rockfish to utilize KLASH’s potential with the intent to onboard more users as the project and organization grow.
A Unified Creative Workflow
One of the biggest advantages with KLASH for Rockfish has been its ability to unify different creative disciplines. Traditionally, game development requires collaboration between multiple teams—art, animation, marketing, and sound design—all using different tools. KLASH has provided a central hub where assets can be stored, reviewed, and refined collaboratively.
“This is not something we were able to do with previous solutions, but with KLASH, we see that we can unify all audiovisual disciplines together.”
Naturally, art reviews and improving collaboration between artists is the core functionality but with KLASH being content agnostic and in the pursuit of bringing everyone together, Rockfish animators have also integrated KLASH into their workflow and the studio also use KLASH as a casting platform for sound samples for the casting of the characters, including casting actors from different geographical regions. Since talent is oftentimes spread across various locations, keeping everyone aligned can be challenging.
Killer Features: Syncing and Real-Time Collaboration
In addition to annotating images and videos asynchronously, one of the game-changing features of KLASH for Rockfish has been Sync timeline, which allows real-time collaboration on video assets. Uwe explained how this has significantly improved their workflow, “Now, we can collaborate with team members across different countries and time zones, and we are able to seamlessly scrub through video together in real-time, discussing insights as we go.”
Additionally, Rockfish utilizes KLASH’s live streaming for gameplay tests and play sessions, providing an efficient way to review and iterate on game mechanics. “We have been using live streaming regularly for gameplay tests, allowing us to provide clear feedback and streamline testing”, he added.
Bringing Marketing & Trailers into KLASH
As Rockfish scales up for their next big project, the studio plans to expand the use of the platform into their marketing and trailer production. The studio creates its cinematics in After Effects, and a mix of the Unreal Sequencer and pure screen grabs for trailer assets. Capturing shots from the sequencer is another area where Uwe sees the use for KLASH live streaming. The Rockfish team captures interesting stuff over time with the camera and then uses this content when producing trailers. By capturing assets regularly, there's a risk of having saved MP4s all over the place - the goal is to have them all in one place on KLASH.
“It will be a nice way to gather all the content we need in one place for everyone to see and comment directly”, explained Uwe.
Streamlining Asset Management
Rockfish appreciates KLASH’s multi-format support, handling everything from 2D, concept art, and UI elements, to audio and cinematics. KLASH has also made it easier for management and business development to find materials and keep up to date with the status of the game. “Before, I would struggle to locate and download assets. With KLASH’s simple UI and clear folder structure, it’s now much easier”, said Michael Schade, Founder and CEO of Rockfish. Sharing assets with external partners has also improved. Whether it's marketing agencies, media, authors, or art book designers, Rockfish can now provide simple and secure access to specific folders, ensuring safe and efficient collaboration. “We share assets externally all of the time. We have external partners in all disciplines, and it’s just easier to send a link where they can view or download exactly what they need”, Schade continues.
3D Asset Reviews
When it comes to 3D assets, Rockfish prefers to review these through video by capturing them directly within Unreal Engine, ensuring that artists and developers see the assets as they appear in-game. Art Director Uwe explains, “As soon as you get the asset into Unreal, you capture a video of it—that way, what you see is what you get.” On why they rather work with video than uploading actual 3D assets, he explains, "This would be a nightmare to implement—it’s just not practical. The engine is constantly evolving, our texturing workflows change frequently, and a single ship can be made up of 20 different modules that all come together in-engine. It just wouldn’t be helpful for us."
The Future with KLASH
Rockfish’s full transition to KLASH is still ongoing as the studio is preparing to ramp up for bigger projects, but the benefits are already evident. As they expand their team and take on larger projects, KLASH will play a central role in streamlining workflows, improving collaboration, and unifying production across disciplines.
We talked about what they see as a need for going forward, including QOL improvements and potential integrations with engines and DCC tools that could further streamline the workflow, but Uwe states, “At this point, there aren’t any crucial features missing. KLASH feels well-equipped for our needs.”
With a growing reliance on KLASH, Rockfish Games is poised to deliver even more ambitious projects efficiently and collaboratively. Their journey with KLASH is just beginning, and the possibilities ahead are exciting.
