About Us

The Knights of Bytes create new games for classic computers and consoles.

Knights of Bytes Logo, Pixel Style

The Beginning

Knights of Bytes was founded in the 90s by Chester Kollschen as a game development label.

The team created and released some notable C64 games such as Ice Guys (1997), Bomb Mania (1998), and Metal Dust (2005), all distributed by Protovision.

Metal Dust marked the end of the team's home computer activities and they moved on to modern platforms under a different label.

Chester Kollschen, Game Designer, Programmer

New Games For Classic Systems

After a break of 10 years and inspired by the increasing public interest in retro computing and gaming, Chester Kollschen revived the Knights of Bytes game development label in 2015.

Instead of crafting retro-style games for modern systems, the Knights of Bytes decided to take the opposite route and create modern games for the now classic home computers and video game consoles.

The team's first project was developed for the platform on which it all began: the C64.

Alex Ney, Music Composer, Chiptune Artist

Smash Hit Platformer: Sam's Journey

Sam's Journey is a fast-paced platformer about a cute little hero called Sam who finds himself on an unexpected journey in a strange world.

The game was developed for the C64 and can be compared to popular titles on the NES or the SNES in terms of features and size.

The very first teaser GIF was released on 1 April 2015 so that many people thought it was an April Fool's prank.

The Knights of Bytes presented a preview version of Sam's Journey at the 2016 gamescom exhibition in Cologne, Germany.

The game was released at Christmas Eve 2017 and received very positive reviews and critical acclaim. It sold 1250 copies within the first three months.

Sam's Journey is distributed by Protovision. There is a disk edition (2 disks) and a cartridge edition (with save option), both in a beautifully decorated cardboard box.

Stefan Gutsch (right), Game Designer, Pixel Artist

Extending The 8-Bit Journey

After the success of Sam's Journey on the C64, the Knights of Bytes ported the game to the NES, the popular 8-bit video game console by Nintendo.

The NES version was released to the public in 2024. Physical editions are distributed by retro publisher poly.play.