Defunct game publisher THQ rises from the dead as THQ Nordic

By Will Fulton August 12, 2016

thq nordic rebrand head — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Swedish developer Nordic Games has announced that it is re-branding itself as “THQ Nordic,” reviving the embattled THQ brand that it acquired in 2014.

“With this rebrand we are entering the next phase in our company’s evolution,” the company explained in a press release. “As of now we have 23 game projects in development, 13 thereof have not yet been publicly announced, but are sure to be in the next months. Needless to say, the majority of these projects are based on former THQ owned IPs and franchises.”

One of the major game publishers of the early aughts, with franchises such as Saints Row, Red Faction, and Dawn of War, THQ famously imploded under financial duress and declared bankruptcy in December 2012. Shortly thereafter, the company began liquidating assets and auctioning off its huge catalog of properties to other developers and publishers like Sega, Take-Two, and Ubisoft. Nordic snatched up the remaining IPs in 2013, and then acquired rights to the THQ trademark itself in 2014. The former THQ brands that Nordic now owns include Red Faction, Darksiders, Full Spectrum Warrior, de Blob and Titan Quest.

“Those key brands will continue to shape our business in a meaningful way going forward, and THQ Nordic represents a core approach of doing much more than ‘owning’ a highly competitive portfolio of IPs,” the press release continues. “We cherish them, and align them with the very best development resources to expand upon them with the level of experience that communities and established fan bases expect and deserve.”

Nordic was founded in 2008, developing smaller projects like the physical release of Alan Wake or Sam and Max Season One, but really put itself on the map by acquiring the lion’s share of THQ. It makes sense, then, that it would re-brand in this way to capitalize on the defunct publisher’s name recognition.

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Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

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