THQ Nordic GmbH (previously known as Nordic Games GmbH) is an Austrian video game publisher located in Vienna and part of Embracer Group. The company was founded in 2011 as part of Nordic Games Holding, which is now called Embracer. In August 2016, the company and its parent company changed their name to THQ Nordic after the parent company acquired the "THQ" trademark in 2014.
THQ Nordic publishes games based on licenses from entertainment companies such as AEW, Nickelodeon, Lucasfilm Ltd., Comedy Central, and Disney. It also develops its own game series, including Destroy All Humans!, Darksiders, Alone in the Dark, SpellForce, and Gothic. The company’s main collection includes games and other materials it purchased from other developers and publishers, such as JoWooD Entertainment and its subsidiaries DreamCatcher Interactive and The Adventure Company in 2011, THQ in 2013, and NovaLogic in 2016. THQ Nordic has also acquired and created several subsidiary studios, including Black Forest Games, Bugbear Entertainment, Gunfire Games, HandyGames, Piranha Bytes, Purple Lamp, and Rainbow Studios.
History
Nordic Games GmbH was created in 2011 as part of the Nordic Games Holding group. Within this group, Nordic Games became a part of Nordic Games Licensing, which was also established in the same year. In June 2011, Nordic Games Holding purchased assets from JoWooD and its related companies, DreamCatcher Interactive and The Adventure Company. These assets included their brands and products. Some former JoWooD employees were hired by Nordic Games to help sell JoWooD’s former products. Nordic Games Publishing, which had previously been a publishing arm of the Nordic Games Group, was merged into the new Nordic Games to help with operations.
Darksiders is a top product. THQ spent $50 million to make Darksiders 2. We can make a product of the same quality but for a lower cost. Spending $50 million is too much, and we cannot afford that. Many of our intellectual properties will only earn about $50,000 each year, but that is still money. Although this amount would not matter to large companies like EA, we now have hundreds of intellectual properties. In a few years, we will have even more. This will add up to a larger total over time.
In April 2013, Nordic Games bought all remaining properties from the bankruptcy auctions of American video game publisher THQ for US$4.9 million. These properties included over 150 games, such as the Darksiders, Red Faction, and MX vs. ATV franchises. In June 2013, Nordic Games purchased the Desperados franchise, which includes Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive, Desperados 2: Cooper’s Revenge, and the game Silver, from Atari.
In December 2013, Nordic Games launched Grimlore Games, a video game developer made up of former Coreplay employees, based in Munich, Germany. In May 2014, Nordic Games acquired the intellectual property for The Moment of Silence, The Mystery of the Druids, and Curse of the Ghost Ship, as well as the publishing rights to Overclocked: A History of Violence and 15 Days, from bankrupt German publisher DTP Entertainment.
In July 2015, Nordic Games and developer Piranha Bytes announced ELEX, an original action role-playing game. The following month, Nordic Games acquired several franchises from bankrupt German publisher bitComposer Entertainment, including the Jagged Alliance franchise. In February 2016, Nordic Games acquired all intellectual property from Hungarian publisher Digital Reality, including Sine Mora.
In August 2016, Nordic Games changed its name to THQ Nordic GmbH (alongside Nordic Games Licensing AB, which became THQ Nordic AB), using the "THQ" trademark that the parent company had acquired in June 2014. According to Wingefors and THQ Nordic’s Reinhard Pollice, the name change was made to use the good reputation of THQ’s past. However, they avoided naming the companies just "THQ" to avoid linking them to THQ’s more recent, troubled history. In October 2016, THQ Nordic announced that it had acquired all intellectual property and assets from NovaLogic, including Delta Force. In December 2016, THQ Nordic announced that it had acquired Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy from Mobile Gaming Studios, as well as Legends of War and War Leaders: Clash of Nations from Enigma Software Productions. In late 2016, THQ Nordic launched Mirage Game Studios in Karlstad, Sweden.
In February 2017, THQ Nordic announced that it, along with Digital Continue, was developing a remaster of Lock’s Quest, with a planned release in April 2017 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. In March 2017, THQ Nordic announced a remastered version of Baja: Edge of Control, titled Baja: Edge of Control HD, a port of De Blob for Microsoft Windows, developed by BlitWorks, and Sine Mora EX, an extended version of Sine Mora, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Later that month, THQ Nordic also acquired the in-development Rad Rodgers, taking over publishing on behalf of developer Slipgate Studios. In May 2017, THQ Nordic announced a new game, Darksiders III, developed by Gunfire Games, which was made by former employees from the original Darksiders developer, Vigil Games. In August 2017, THQ Nordic acquired German developer Black Forest Games for €1.35 million and Swedish developer Pieces Interactive for 2.8 million kr. This was followed by the acquisition of Experiment 101, the Swedish developer behind the in-development Biomutant, for 75.3 million kr in November 2017.
In March 2018, after Activision’s license for games on Nickelodeon properties expired, THQ Nordic announced a partnership with Nickelodeon that would allow it to re-release sixteen Nickelodeon games
Subsidiaries
THQ Nordic runs several game development studios and two international distribution arms: THQ Nordic Inc. in the United States (established in 2012) and THQ Nordic Japan KK in Japan (established in 2019).