Nordic Games Snatches Up THQ Properties

Nordic Games has snatched up a lot of game licenses once owned by THQ.

Nordic Games, the publisher behind Painkiller: Hell and Damnation, has bought the rights to several THQ properties. Darksiders is a game where you take on the role of War, one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Red Faction is a first-person shooter that takes place on Mars. Titan Quest is your usual action RPG title, and all of these games are getting sequels from Nordic Games.

THQ filed for bankruptcy in January 2013, and is now liquidating all of their assets, ensuring that the games you know from them will now be handled by other developers, if they don’t just die from lack of interest. THQ was also the developer behind Saints Row, Frontlines: Fuel of War, MX vs ATV, Company of Heroes, Dawn of War, and several more. The bankruptcy comes as a disappointment to some, due to their variety of game properties.

Nordic Games now owns most of THQ’s more notable game properties, which is a huge step forward for Nordic Games. The developer reportedly spent $4.9 million to acquire the rights to the games THQ auctioned off, including the Wheel of Fortune series. This is the biggest buyout in Nordic Games history, and could make them a major player in tomorrow’s gaming world. Nordic Games CEO Lars Wingefors says:

“In the long term, we either want to cooperate with the original creators or best possible developers in order to work on sequels or additional content for these titles. A very important point for us is not to dash into several self-financed multi-million dollar projects right away, but rather to continue our in-depth analysis of all titles and carefully selecting different financing models for developing new [installments] of acquired Ips.”

Gearbox was another developer who helped THQ clear out their game licenses by buying Homeworld for $1.35 million.

What do you think about Nordic Games snatching up the rights to most of THQ’s games?