Unceremonious, but with style THQ Nordic announced via a press statement and Twitter, they and Koch Media have shuffled ownership of various IPs. What this means is the two companies that are owned by the same holding company but retain independence have exchanged the publishing and development rights to several of their franchises.
THQ Nordic trades Painkiller & Red Faction for Koch Media’s Sacred, Risen, Rush for Berlin, Second Sight & Singles: Flirt Up Your Life!
Koch waves farewell as their IPs are transferred. „Take good care of them!“#THQNordic #KochMedia pic.twitter.com/HLVmXJXY9K
— THQ Nordic (@THQNordic) May 5, 2020
Going forward, it would appear Embracer Group (formerly Nordic Games Publishing AB) is delegating genre responsibility between the two companies. THQ Nordic will develop more RPG heavy titles, whereas Koch Media will focus its efforts on action-heavy games.
For the consumer, this is rather a mixed baggage. Koch Media infamously ran itself into the ground and with its independence continues to make poor decisions. Such as the Metro Exodus timed exclusivity contract with Epic. That would result in the majority of sales for the entry occurring on consoles, with PC sales achieving success until the Steam launch.
THQ Nordic, like its namesake, tends to not involve themselves in micromanaging their studios. Any wokeness or failures tend to be on the studio side rather than mandated by the publisher. They’ve previously committed themselves to independent creation and cited the AA market as their target demographic.
Likely each of the IPs exchanged will see news of remasters, updates, and/or new entries in the next couple years.
Press Statement
Source: All games Delta
From Koch Media to THQ Nordic
• Risen – Risen is a third-person action RPG created by Piranha Bytes. Risen is considered a spiritual successor to the Gothic series, and a spiritual predecessor of ELEX.
• Rush for Berlin – Rush for Berlin is a real-time tactics game set in World War II. In the contest for the German capital Berlin, the player must fight with the American, British, French, and Soviet armies.
• Sacred – The Sacred series is a hack and slash RPG series and is reminiscent of Diablo. Same concept: level, loot, perfecting your character.
• Second Sight – Second Sight is a science fiction action-adventure stealth video game, featuring a protagonist with memory of their past and psychic abilities.
• Singles: Flirt Up Your Life – Singles: Flirt Up Your Life is a Life (and love life) simulation game from the early 2000s.
From THQ Nordic to Koch Media
• Pain Killer – Hell & Damnation was just an all around awesome project to work on. It is hard to believe that it was already eight years ago for Daniel Garner and actually marked our (then: Nordic Games) first big title. What we had was truly special and although we made a lot of mistakes, we also did a lot of really awesome stuff when we published you. Unfortunately, though, today marks the day where we will let you go. We know you will get a lot of love in your new home.
• Red Faction – We loved working on Re-Mars-tered (yes, we do have a certain reputation for corny names for remasters, and we are damn proud of it), but the time has come to put our sledgehammers on the shelf. Live long and prosper!
