THQ Nordic
 | |
Formerly called | Nordic Games GmbH (2011–2016) |
|---|---|
| Private | |
| Industry | Video game industry |
| Founded | 23 June 2011 |
| Founder | Lars Wingefors[1] |
| Headquarters | Vienna, Austria |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Lars Wingefors[1] |
| Owner | Lars Wingefors[1] |
Number of employees | 84[1] (2016) |
| Parent | THQ Nordic AB[2] |
| Divisions |
|
| Website |
thqnordic |
THQ Nordic GmbH (formerly Nordic Games GmbH) is an Austrian developer and publisher of video games based in Vienna, Austria. Its core portfolio comprises products and brands which were acquired from JoWooD Entertainment and DreamCatcher Interactive in 2011, and from THQ in 2014. In 2016, the company reincorporated as THQ Nordic under the previously acquired THQ trademark and logo.
History
At the beginning of the 1990s, Lars Wingefors founded a company named LW Comics to sell and trade secondhand comic books. In 1993 the focus of that company shifted to video games, again starting as a mail-order retailer for secondhand software and cartridges, finally becoming Nordic Games. Its headquarters is located in Karlstad, Sweden. Over the years the company added new goods to its portfolio and established several stores over the Finnish and Scandinavian area.[3] In 2000 British retailer Gameplay.com (later renamed to Game) acquired Nordic Games for £5.96 million.[4] After the dot-com bubble Wingefors re-acquired the Nordic retail division from financially troubled Gameplay for 1 Swedish Krona or 7 pence.[5] In 2004, the company started with a new outlet store concept. In 2008, Nordic Games entered game development by creating its own publishing branch Nordic Games Publishing in order to create products for its outlet stores. Some minor success was the singing game series We Sing for the Wii console.[3]
On 16 August 2011 Nordic Games Holding announced that it had acquired assets from JoWooD, its products and brands, including The Adventure Company.[6] Following the acquisition it was announced that JoWooD and The Adventure Company will become publishing labels for Nordic Games GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nordic Games Holding.[7] Today, Nordic Games Austria is handling most of Nordic Games' releases, licensing deals are handled by the Swedish Nordic Games Licensing AB. In May 2012, Nordic Games acquired 55 shops and the online store for Sweden and Norway from Game.[8]
In February 2012, Nordic Games took over the boxed release of Alan Wake from Remedy Entertainment for PC.[9]
In April 2013, Nordic Games acquired the remaining properties still owned by the bankrupt American video game publisher THQ as part of the company's liquidation, including the Darksiders, Red Faction, and MX vs. ATV franchises. Nordic plans to find new distribution channels for some of its newly acquired properties, and has considered the third-party development of new installments.[10] On 12 June 2014, it was also announced that Nordic Games had acquired the THQ trademarks, allowing the company to use the THQ brand as an imprint on future games.[11] In November, it also acquired the rights to the THQ series de Blob.[12]
From Atari, SA, Nordic Games bought the rights to the Desperados series and Silver in June 2013.[13][14] In April 2014 it took over the rights to the adventure series The Black Mirror from bankrupt German publisher dtp entertainment.[15] It was followed by the acquisition of dtp's licenses for The Moment of Silence, The Mystery of the Druids and Curse of the Ghost Ship, originally created by German developer House of Tales, as well as the commercial rights for the trademarks Overclocked: A History of Violence and 15 Days.[16][17]
Grimlore Games GmbH was first European in-house studio of Nordic Games.[18] The studio began as a developer team in Nordic Games in December 2013 with key members from former Münich-based game development studio Coreplay.[19] In October 2014, the limited-liability company was founded.[20] According to Nordic Games, "the studio will focus on PC games for core gamers, specifically the role-playing and real-time strategy genres."[18] On November 24, 2014, Nordic Games announced that Grimlore Games is developing the next video game sequel in the SpellForce series, named SpellForce 3.[18][21] The game is due for release in 2017.[22]
In July 2015, Nordic Games and Piranha Bytes announced an upcoming sci-fi action RPG known as ELEX.[23] The following month, Nordic acquired a number of franchises from BitComposer Interactive, including Jagged Alliance and The Great Giana Sisters.[24] In February 2016, Nordic acquired intellectual property from Digital Reality.[25]
On 12 August 2016, Nordic Games announced that it had changed its name to THQ Nordic. CEO Lars Wingefors explained that the THQ brand was still widely associated with some of the franchises that it had acquired, and this move was intended to give their previously-obscure studio better name recognition, reflecting a goal to "shape our business in a meaningful way going forward" using its acquired properties. He went on to state that "on a personal note, having worked in the industry since 1993, I have a lot of respect for what THQ accomplished in the video game marketplace. Their licensed and eventually hardcore games portfolio provided a lot of fun to millions of players, including me.". He also stated that THQ Nordic had 23 games in development, with many based on former THQ properties.[26]
On, 31 October 2016, Nordic acquired a number of franchises from Novalogic, including Delta Force, and Armored Fist
Upcoming games by THQ Nordic
| Release | Title | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | ELEX | Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One | Developed by Piranha Bytes[27] |
| 2017 | AquaNox: Deep Descent | Windows | [28] |
| 2017 | SpellForce 3 | Windows, Linux | Developed by Grimlore Games[29] |
| 2017 | The Guild 3 | Windows | |
| 2017 | Battle Chasers: Nightwar | Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS [30] | Developed by Airship Syndicate[31] |
Key Franchises/IPs
| Latest Release | Title | Genre | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Aquanox | Action | Acquired from JoWooD Entertainment |
| 2010 | The Guild | Life simulation/RTS | Acquired from JoWooD Entertainment |
| 2010 | Legend of Kay | Action-adventure | Acquired from JoWooD Entertainment |
| 2011 | ArcaniA | Action RPG | Acquired from JoWooD Entertainment |
| 2004 | SpellForce | RTS/RPG | Acquired from JoWooD Entertainment |
| 2009 | Yoga Wii | Fitness game | Acquired from JoWooD Entertainment |
| 2007 | Panzer Elite | Simulation | Acquired from JoWooD Entertainment |
| 2004 | Painkiller | Shooter | Acquired from DreamCatcher Interactive |
| 2010 | Safecracker | Adventure (point and click) | Acquired from DreamCatcher Interactive |
| 2007 | Titan Quest | Action role-playing (hack and slash) | Acquired from THQ |
| 2012 | Darksiders | Action-adventure, hack and slash | Acquired from THQ |
| 2011 | Red Faction | Shooter | Acquired from THQ |
| 2014 | MX vs. ATV | Racing | Acquired from THQ |
| 2008 | Frontlines: Fuel of War | Shooter | Acquired from THQ |
| 2007 | Juiced | Racing | Acquired from THQ |
| 2007 | Stuntman | Racing/Action | Acquired from THQ |
| 2008 | Destroy All Humans! | Action-adventure | Acquired from THQ |
| 2009 | Deadly Creatures | Action | Acquired from THQ |
| 2006 | Full Spectrum Warrior | Action | Acquired from THQ |
| 2006 | The Outfit | Action | Acquired from THQ |
| 2002 | Summoner | Role-playing | Acquired from THQ |
| 2011 | De Blob | Platform/Puzzle | Acquired from THQ |
| 2000 | Silver | Action role-playing (hack and slash) | Acquired from Atari[32] |
| 2005 | Desperados | Real-time tactics | Acquired from Atari[32] |
| 2004 | Men of Valor | First-person shooter | Acquired from 2015, Inc. |
| 2005 | Nexus: The Jupiter Incident | Space combat simulator, Real-time tactics | Acquired from HD Interactive |
Release history
Subsidiaries
- Grimlore Games, based in Munich, Germany.
- Rainbow Studios, founded in 1996, based in Phoenix, Arizona. Acquired after THQ's bankruptcy.[37]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Nordic Games Reincorporates to THQ Nordic". THQ Nordic. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- ↑ https://www.thqnordic.com/legal/imprint
- 1 2 "Nordic Games Group". nordicgamesgroup.com.
- ↑ "Gameplay.com buys Nordic Games". This is Money.
- ↑ "Gameplay division sold for £1". theregister.co.uk.
- ↑ "JoWooD & The Adventure Company, wholly owned labels of Nordic Games.". Nordic Games. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ↑ "Nordic Games Holding AB Group Acquires JoWooD & The Adventure Company". Nordic Games. 16 August 2011. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ↑ "Publisher Nordic Games buys GAME's Scandinavian business". GamesIndustry.biz.
- ↑ Richard Mitchell. "Alan Wake getting boxed PC version from Nordic Games". Engadget.
- ↑ "The future of Darksiders, Red Faction and THQ's other IP at Nordic Games". Polygon. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "THQ trademark acquired by Nordic Games". Polygon. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
- ↑ Mike Suszek. "Nordic officially purchases de Blob series from THQ". Engadget.
- ↑ Linken, Andre (25 June 2013). "Nordic Games - Publisher sichert sich die Rechte an Desperados und Silver". Gamestar (in German). IDG. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
- ↑ Samit Sarkar. "Nordic Games acquires rights to Atari's Desperados and Silver". Polygon.
- ↑ "Black Mirror - Nordic Games übernimmt Adventure-Marke". GameStar.de. 11 April 2014.
- ↑ "Nordic Games GmbH: "The Moment of Silence" und andere dtp-Lizenzen gekauft - 4Players.de". 4Players.
- ↑ Mike Suszek. "Nordic acquires adventure games from Awesomenauts publisher". Engadget.
- 1 2 3 "Grimlore Games to develop SpellForce 3". Nordic Games. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
Nordic Games establishes studio in Munich – Grimlore Games developing SpellForce 3
- ↑ "COMPANY – Grimlore Games". Grimlore Games. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ↑ "Übersicht – Grimlore Games München" [Overview – Grimlore Games Münich] (in German). Moneyhouse Deutschland AG. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ↑ "PROJECTS – Grimlore Games". Grimlore Games. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ↑ "SpellForce 3 on Steam". Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- ↑ "ELEX is the next game from the studio behind Risen". Polygon. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ↑ "Nordic swoops for BitComposer licenses, including Jagged Alliance". MCVUK. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ↑ "Nordic Games buys Digital Reality IP including Sine Mora". MCVUK. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ↑ Takahashi, Dean (12 August 2016). "Nordic Games brings back the THQ name, rebrands as THQ Nordic". VentureBeat. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- ↑ elexgame.com
- ↑ "Aquanox: Deep Descent Preview". GameStar.de. 16 August 2014.
- ↑ "Grimlore Games to develop SpellForce 3". Nordic Games. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
- ↑ http://www.battlechasers.com/game
- ↑ "TEAM". Battle Chasers. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- 1 2 Yin-Poole, Wesley (24 June 2013). "Nordic Games, the company that now owns Darksiders, snaps up Atari IPs Desperados and Silver". Retrieved 8 July 2013.
- ↑ Nintendo Life. "Cult PlayStation 2 Title Legend Of Kay Is Getting Remastered On Wii U". Nintendo Life.
- ↑ "Nordic Games GmbH - Fresh From Austria - Latest News - MX vs. ATV Series To Be Resurrected By Nordic Games". nordicgames.at.
- ↑ "Nordic Games GmbH - Fresh From Austria - Latest News - Nordic Games teams up with Cliffhanger Productions to distribute Shadowrun". nordicgames.at.
- ↑ "The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - PC". IGN. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ↑ McWhertor, Michael (12 August 2016). "Nordic Games changes its name to THQ Nordic". Polygon. Retrieved 12 August 2016.