THQ Nordic - Acquires Piranha Bytes

This can be a good news for both Piranha Bytes and for gamers I think. I'm a fan of PB games and always thought their potential was hampered by their tight budget. With proper and adequate resources they can produce much more refined games and they can easily beat giants like Bethesda and CD Projekt Red in terms of popularity.

Honestly, I'm taking it as a huge positive for now, subject to change in the future. It will take time for the customers to get a sense of how this is all going to work out for future offerings.

Hell, I'd be more than happy if they gave us a better version of Gothic 1 + 2 Gold.

Wow, did not see that coming! I also see this cautiously positive for now. THQN has not disappointed so far.

Not sure if I need an Elex 2, though. The exploration was stellar, the rest was meh. And I still hate Techno Vikings.

Originally Posted by Gokyabgu
This can be a good news for both Piranha Bytes and for gamers I think. I'm a fan of PB games and always thought their potential was hampered by their tight budget.

That seems to be true. If these funding numbers are correct, they plan with costs of ~1.5 million euros for ELEX 2. Tiny, in comparison to other games of that complexity.

https://www.gamepressure.com/newsroo…eu-grant/ze527

But who knows what happens with that now…

This doesn't sound like much.

The acquisition includes the development studio and all IP rights. The parties have agreed upon not disclosing the purchase price. However, the purchase price equals c. three years of what management’s estimated royalty payments to Piranha for upcoming titles would have been, if the acquisition had not occurred.

"Royalty payments" can mean just about anything here. If it includes the advance of the typical "advance against royalties", because that's later paiod back through royalties, we're talking ca. 5M to 15M EUR. If they only mean the money PB would actually earn according to the projections, then it's far, far less. I've already included the Gothic IP and some royalties from the Gothic, Risen and Elex catalog.

Originally Posted by Cacheperl
That seems to be true. If these funding numbers are correct, they plan with costs of ~1.5 million euros for ELEX 2. Tiny, in comparison to other games of that complexity.

https://www.gamepressure.com/newsroo…eu-grant/ze527

But who knows what happens with that now…

The budget is probably higher. PB has 31 full time employees. This means they'll burn between 120k and 250k per month. 1.5M EUR is only possible if they're working on a second project too.
PB was a group of several companies (led by the same people). Maybe they found a way to make the real number look small.

Originally Posted by Cacheperl
That seems to be true. If these funding numbers are correct, they plan with costs of ~1.5 million euros for ELEX 2.

I'll help you out: it's 1.67 mio €.

Welll… better THQ than paradox. Really don't want every tree and town to be a dlc.

Originally Posted by SpoonFULL
Probably few remasters of Gothic 1 and 2 initially.

Maybe its more likely now. Piranhas said that they are only 30 people and they would need to redo everything so it would be like new project for them. Maybe THQ will give them time and money to do remasters.

Bjorn Pankratz explained it (new Gothic or remasters in studio) here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rp8xS66jaI

German IP being bought out by an Austrian company. Their subsidiaries are all European-based.

https://www.thqnordic.com/index.php/…red-thq-nordic

FAQ

Employees/Staff
Q: Will there be any changes in personnel at Piranha Bytes (PB)?
A: No.

Q: Will PB change location and move to Vienna?
A: No, what happens in Ruhrpott, stays in Ruhrpott.

Company/legal technicalities
Q: What is the deal, why is there a new company being incorporated?
A: Technically speaking, Pluto 13 GmbH (the former company behind the Piranha Bytes brand) sold the trademarks “Piranha Bytes” and “Gothic” as well as the entire Gothic IP to THQ Nordic AB. The remaining rights of Risen and ELEX, which were in other entities of the Piranha Bytes folks, were also acquired by THQ Nordic AB. In the forefront of the closing of this deal, THQ Nordic GmbH set up a new entity (initially named “THQ Nordic Reserve 1 GmbH”; in the next days renamed to “Piranha Bytes GmbH”). This company is now stepping into the existing employment and service agreements with all personnel and has also acquired the existing office equipment (furniture, hardware, coffee machine).

Intellectual Properties
Q: What about ELEX 2?
A: Semi-official comment: Have a guess.

Q: What does this mean for potential remakes of Gothic and/or Risen?
A: Nothing to say at this stage.

Ah…well, no surprise there. I was actually more surprised that they weren't a part already. Elex was already published by THQ nordic.

Amd about THQ never disappointing: They also did Jagged Alliance Rage! - which was pretty bad.

I guess they just have such a mixed portfolio, that it really doesn't mean anything that THQ is on the label, besides of the budget not being AAA.

THQ have a fame of supporting games , like they did with Titan Quest.On the other hand their portfolio is mainly AA games and their quality for the most part is…meh(Arcania Gothic 4 anyone?).I quess the main thing here is a continuation of funding for PB if their vision for their next games is somewhat bigger.

Originally Posted by Silver
Not to worry. There business model is producing lots of lower cost AA titles (compared to AAA standard) to hedge their bets. They made a lot of money last quarter which you can check out here:
http://www.thqnordic-investors.com/e…easeId=3313007

They're really taking that "don't put all your eggs in one basket" to the next level.

If it means financial stability for PB, I'm happy. And no Gothic 1-2 remakes, please. I've already spent too much time with them.

ELEX didn't really grab me, but their engine does now seem to be in pretty good shape. Surely it's time for Gothic V. If THQ invests some money in it, I think it could sell like hotcakes.

ELEX lacked the atmosphere that Gothic, and to some extent, the first Risen had. It also didn't have as interesting characters. Some of it was very tedious and the landscape was often quite uninspired, reminded me a bit of WoW or a MMO, i really don't like that feeling when i play a SP game (i got that feeling with Zelda BoTW too)..
A decent attempt of something new though.

Graphically the Risen games looked better imo.

Gothic will automagically get better atmosphere just due to the lore/setting, it's way easier to get right i think.

reshade atmosphere might be the most important thing to you, but it isn't to me. How come? Well, the glorified and overrated reshade can't fix pisspoor hair.
In my case it's:
No humor = not the best RPG. Usually…

What does Reshade has to do with anything? Atmosphere is more than graphics.