Crazy Chicken
From advergame to Germany's most popular computer game.
Crazy Chicken, also known as *Moorhuhn* in its original German release, *Chicken Hunter*, or *Moorhen*, is a franchise of shooting gallery video games. It began as a small promotional game for Johnnie Walker whisky, commissioned by the Bochum-based Art Department advertising agency and developed by Dutch studio Witan Studios in 1998. The idea for using a video game to advertise the whisky brand had originated a year earlier with another agency, Vorwerk & Buchholz. A prototype called *KippenSchieten* was shown at the Bizarre 98 demo party in summer 1998. The game was first made available in October 1998 on laptops in select bars, where promoters dressed as fowlers encouraged play. Although never meant for sale or wide distribution, it was copied without authorization and spread via private websites. The publisher’s initial annoyance faded after the game received positive press and demand grew. From early 1999, Art Department made it officially available for download. It became extremely popular in German-speaking Europe, with media outlets reporting that it hurt business productivity because employees wasted hours playing it—helped by its small file size of about 2 MB, which made it easy to share by email.
The development studio and IP owner went public in late 1999 during the dot-com bubble, reaching a market value of up to one billion euros. In 2002, the company’s stock value collapsed after it emerged that its leaders were under investigation for falsifying balance sheets. Chairman Markus Scheer and CFO Björn Denhard confessed to the falsifications and were fired. In 2009, a German court sentenced them to 46 and 36 months in prison, respectively, for securities fraud and other offenses. Scheer later left the video game industry for politics, reportedly becoming a puppet master of the far-right AfD party in North Rhine-Westphalia, and founded Bündnis Deutschland in 2022. Phenomedia AG went through insolvency, and its assets—including the Crazy Chicken series—were bought by successor company Phenomedia publishing GmbH, which continued developing and publishing games until its dissolution in 2017. After that, the franchise’s rights became the property of long-time publishing partner ak tronic Software & Services GmbH.
In the mainline games, the core concept is derived from the Glorious Twelfth: players aim to get a high score by shooting the titular Crazy C
- first_release
- 1998
- original_publisher
- Art Department advertising agency (Bochum)
- developer
- Witan Studios (Netherlands)
- genre
- Shooting gallery video game
- notable_character
- Crazy Chicken (Moorhuhn)
- peak_popularity
- Early 2000s in German-speaking Europe
Lore & Background
The original Crazy Chicken game was commissioned by the Bochum-based Art Department advertising agency and developed by Dutch Witan Studios as an advertisement for Johnnie Walker whisky in 1998. The concept of using a video game to promote the Johnnie Walker brand was originally thought up by another advertising agency, Hamburg-based Vorwerk & Buchholz, in 1997. A prototype shown at the Bizarre 98 demo party in summer of 1998 was called KippenSchieten. The game was first made available in October 1998 to play on laptops in select bars, with promoters dressed as fowlers. Although never intended for sale, it was illicitly copied and became widely available for download on private websites. Publisher irritation subsided after favorable media mentions and growing demand; from early 1999, the game was officially made available for download by Art Department. Its small file size (approximately 2 MB) allowed easy email sharing, and it was described by media as a threat to business productivity due to employee time spent playing.
Reader's Guide
The Crazy Chicken franchise began as a small advertising game but became a cultural phenomenon in German-speaking Europe, achieving the status of Germany's most popular computer game in the early 2000s. Its success led to a wide range of spin-offs, including kart racing, adventure, platformer, and sports games, as well as merchandise, a comic book series, an animated TV series, and a single. The development studio and IP owner went public in late 1999 during the dot-com bubble, reaching a market value of up to one billion Euro. However, in 2002, the company's stock collapsed after its leaders were investigated for falsifying balance sheets; chairman Markus Scheer and CFO Björn Denhard were fired, and in 2009 they were sentenced to prison for securities fraud. The company underwent insolvency, and its assets were bought by a successor company, Phenomedia publishing GmbH, which continued development until 2017. The rights then passed to long-time publishing partner ak tronic Software & Services GmbH. The franchise's titular character, originally designed in 1992 for a cancelled Amiga game, became considered Germany's most popular video game character.
Did You Know?
- The original game had a file size of approximately 2 MB, allowing it to be sent via email.
- The development studio and IP owner reached a market value of up to one billion Euro during the dot-com bubble.
- Chairman Markus Scheer and CFO Björn Denhard were sentenced to 46 and 36 months' imprisonment, respectively, for securities fraud.
- The Crazy Chicken character was originally designed in 1992 for the cancelled Commodore Amiga game Duckling.
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