The Trusted Co-Development Partner: How Mi'pu'mi Games Delivers AAA Quality with Perforce P4

Game Technology Toolset

Introducing Mi'pu'mi Games

Mi'pu'mi Games has established itself as a reputable co-development partner for AAA studios, contributing to critically acclaimed titles like Alan Wake II and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, while also releasing three original games. From their Vienna headquarters, this independent studio has built a reputation for technical excellence that larger studios trust with their most valuable intellectual property.

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Founded in 2009, Mi’pu’mi Games was started by former Rockstar Games employees, including Tobias Sicheritz, Chief Technology Officer and Founder of Mi’pu’mi Games; and Martin Filipp, COO and Managing Director of Mi'pu'mi Games. The team was brought together by a shared vision—to create a stable, collaborative studio where game developers can work and learn without the unsustainable work practices common in the industry. Initially self-funded and focused on work-for-hire projects, the studio gradually carved out a niche as a reliable co-developer, gaining access to the engine rooms of large AAA studios and forging strong partnerships with industry giants like MachineGames and Ubisoft. 

When establishing their studio in 2009, the founding team faced a critical decision point: how to build a technical foundation that would enable seamless collaboration with major studios while maintaining the strict security protocols necessary in modern game development. Their solution would not only determine their ability to win contracts but would shape the entire workflow of their new studio.

Challenges

• Meeting AAA-level security requirements for client partnerships.
• Performance bottlenecks with large game files and projects with Git-based version control systems.
• Inconsistent workflows across different partner projects.
• Need for seamless integration across specialized creative tools.
• Lack of a central source of truth for their expanding team.

When establishing Mi’pu’mi Games, security emerged as the decisive factor in choosing a version control as the team pursued contracts with AAA partners. The implementation of fine-tuned user permissions, detailed audit trails, and secure data transfer methods weren't just nice-to-haves—they were non-negotiables that would ultimately determine whether Mi'pu'mi could compete in the AAA space.

"The level of security is critical in this line of business," explains Martin. "Sometimes, security protocols are so strict that we're not allowed to take data out of the physical domain of our partners."

This reality presented a clear challenge: without a more sophisticated system, the team would not be able to meet the security standards necessary to win the high-profile contracts they needed to grow, while maintaining the efficiency required to deliver on tight AAA schedules.

Fortunately, their decision was informed by valuable firsthand experience. While at Rockstar, Tobias and Martin had served on a specialized development team tasked with evaluating various version control systems—including Alienbrain, ClearCase, Git, and Perforce P4—as the company expanded. 

Their team identified three critical requirements for their next solution: efficient handling of large game assets, a central source of truth, and robust security controls. These exact features, highlighted years earlier during their evaluation work, would later become the foundational elements of Mi'pu'mi's success.

Solution

• Enterprise-grade security with end-to-end encryption and fine-grained permissions that meet AAA partner requirements.
• Streamlined workflows using P4 Streams with template and foundation projects to accelerate development.
• Optimized remote collaboration through strategic P4 Proxy implementation for distributed teams.

"P4 was clearly the best repository on the market and the best version control system we used. Even in the early years, it was ahead of all other repositories in speed and ability to handle large assets."

COO and Managing Director of Mi'pu'mi Games, Martin Filipp

After evaluating multiple repositories, the Rockstar team unanimously chose P4. This experience gave Tobias and the other founders confidence when establishing Mi'pu'mi Games, where they implemented P4 as their central source of truth—not just for game development, but for their entire operations. Unlike many studios that limit version control to code or game assets, Mi'pu'mi uses P4 as the main storage solution across all departments.

"For us, P4 is the main tool for pretty much the entire company. Our administration team, our balance sheets, all the office suites that administration is using—everything is in Perforce. I could not imagine a world without Perforce."

COO and Managing Director of Mi'pu'mi Games, Martin Filipp

P4's centralized system provides Mi'pu'mi with a definitive record of all changes. This becomes especially valuable during complex projects with multiple contributors, where tracking responsibility and progress is critical. Tobias explains, "We chose P4 over decentralized version control systems like Git because our projects involve lots of non-programmer contributors. The conceptual clarity and straightforward point of contact with the data allows people to see exactly who made what changes and when." 

📘 Related Resource: Git vs. Perforce

In addition, the security features in P4 have been crucial for Mi'pu'mi's co-development business model. Fine-grained permission controls allow them to meet the strict security requirements from AAA partners, while P4's flexibility enables them to connect to partner servers and maintain local workspaces when permitted. The permissions system also assists them with GDPR compliance by controlling access down to the file level.

Mi'pu'mi has also developed sophisticated workflows using P4 Streams, with template projects serving as starting points for new development. Their foundation projects contain pre-configured pipelines and middleware integrations, while their stream structures adapt to each project's unique needs. With help from Perforce Professional Services, Mi'pu'mi has successfully merged diverse project structures when needed, creating unified workflows despite working with different partners and engines.

📘 Related Resource: Stream Adoption Guide

“Perforce P4 Proxy has been our trusted friend.”

Chief Technology Officer and Founder, Tobias Sicheritz

To overcome bandwidth and latency issues when collaborating with European partners, Mi'pu'mi implemented Perforce P4 Proxy Servers with automated maintenance scripts. This solution streamlines access to remote Perforce servers, prevents proxy overload during binary updates, and eliminates performance bottlenecks for distributed teams.

Beyond version control, P4 has become Mi'pu'mi's proof of work for client billing. Martin explains, "P4 is also our proof of work, which people really underestimate. When you have a time and material contract with no clear milestones, you can reference the repository to demonstrate how much work was checked in. When you invoice a partner, you can point to P4 and say, 'This is what we've done.’” 

By implementing P4 across their entire organization and optimizing it for remote collaboration, Mi'pu'mi Games has created a secure, efficient foundation that enables them to deliver exceptional games while maintaining the strict security protocols required by their AAA partners.

Impact

Why Mi'pu'mi Games built their entire company workflow on Perforce P4:

• Gained a central source of truth for the entire studio—with P4 as the backbone across game development, design, HR, finance, and more.
• Secured valuable AAA partnerships with Ubisoft, MachineGames, Remedy Games and more by meeting the industry's most stringent security and access control requirements.
• Reduced project startup time by over 90% with P4 Streams templates.

"If it isn't in P4, it doesn't exist."

COO and Managing Director of Mi'pu'mi Games, Martin Filipp

Mi’pu’mi’s adoption of Perforce P4 has solidified its reputation as a reliable co-developer capable of tackling technically complex projects of any scale. From delivering major AAA titles to pioneering original IPs, P4 remains at the heart of their continued growth and success.

The studio leverages P4's flexibility to innovate within creative constraints—whether developing a wheelchair-bound protagonist solving mysteries in The Flower Collectors or creating watercolor-inspired technology for medieval narratives in Howl. Their technical mastery combined with P4's reliable foundation enables them to merge technical creativity with compelling storytelling.

What's next for Mi'pu'mi Games? With P4 as their foundation, they're now tackling their most ambitious project yet—a provocative card game exploring addiction and confronting the past. 

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