THQ Nordic - Acquires Eleven Game Developers

DSOGaming reports that Embracer Group, which is the parent of THQ Nordic, Deep Silver and Saber Interactive, has acquired 11 Game Developers and a QA and PR group.

Below is the full list of studios and groups in Embracer Group's acquisition.

• A Thinking Ape Entertainment - The developers of mobile free-to-play titles CasinoX and Kingdoms at War
• Zen Studios - The Budapest studio behind the Pinball FX games, with expansions based on properties like Star Wars and The Walking Dead
• Snapshot Games - The development team behind Phoenix Point will "expand the Phoenix Point universe" and "bring new IP to a global audience" following the acquisition
• Nimble Giant Entertainment - The Argentinian studio behind Champions of Regnum and Quantum League
• 34BigThings - The Italian studio responsible for the Redout racing game series
• Mad Head Games - A Serbian studio specializing in mystery and Hidden Object games.
• Purple Lamp Studios - The Austrian team behind Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated, who are set to put their "ambitious plans into action" following the acquisition
• IUGO Mobile Entertainment - A Vancouver based-studio working on mobile free-to-play games, previously responsible for The Walking Dead: Road to Survival
• Coffee Stain North - A smaller studio and partner of Coffee Stain Studios, who has worked on Goat Simulator and A Story About My Uncle
• Silent Games - A Newcastle-based studio working on its debut IP, a long-lasting co-op franchise where players will "unearth deep secrets of an ancient civilization." The first game is set for a 2023 launch.
• Flying Wild Hog - The Polish studio behind the Shadow Warrior series of games, Flying Wild Hog is now working on "four projects together with well reputable external publishers"

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More information.

Zen Studios also made Operencia btw.

Not sure if this is good or bad news. Piranha Bytes seem to do ok with them and I think there have been a couple of others who did well though I don't remember details anymore.

THQ however is also responsible for the latest Jagged Alliance Disaster.

Flying Wild Hog did a pretty decent cyberpunk shooter called Hard Reset. Other than that, I can't say I'm too familiar with these studios.

Just give us some news about ELEX 2 please.

Agree never heard of most of those developers. Anyway THQ Nordic grows even larger.

Originally Posted by Kordanor
Zen Studios also made Operencia btw.

Not sure if this is good or bad news. Piranha Bytes seem to do ok with them and I think there have been a couple of others who did well though I don't remember details anymore.

THQ however is also responsible for the latest Jagged Alliance Disaster.

Operencia is a turn and party based blobber RPG much like in the veins of Might&Magic X and Bard's Tale 4 and a good one at that. I recommend it to anyone who likes these types of games.

Anyway I love THQ Nordic (which was Jowood in the early 2000s) because they release remakes, expansions and sequels to RPG classics. I hope they make a sequel to Operencia too.

Originally Posted by Gokyabgu
Operencia is a turn and party based blobber RPG much like in the veins of Bard's Tale 4…

which was very easy to besten

What an odd mix of games in my opinion.

Phoenix point is the only game I truly recognise and I find it odd they're going that route.


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Didn't Zen Studios do Operencia? ��

Originally Posted by Pladio
What an odd mix of games in my opinion.

Phoenix point is the only game I truly recognise and I find it odd they're going that route.


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I think the thinking here is that Snapshot want to make their games all they can be and figure they need someone to foot the bill. They must not be concerned with THQ Nordic interfering overly much creatively.

Originally Posted by Silver
I think the thinking here is that Snapshot want to make their games all they can be and figure they need someone to foot the bill. They must not be concerned with THQ Nordic interfering overly much creatively.

That may help explain it

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This is similar to your favorite utility programs Feature Creep™. It was so lightning fast and simple to use in the beginning, but as years passed, lately it became a slowe-arse running bloated swamp replete with corpses, where you can't find your favorite features anymore as they are buried under dozens of FCKN completely useless & unnecessary """"Innovations"""".

Originally Posted by Pladio
What an odd mix of games in my opinion.

I wonder if another possibility is that many of these studios are not in great financial shape, and THQ has just snapped up some bargains.

Ripper it's THQ Nordic. Enough said.

The company is basically a bottom feeder that buys failing developers and bankrupted IP's by the bulk. Sure we get some DLC's and sequels but it doesn't change facts.

Yes, I'm just using shorthand to refer to them, because we know what the article's about. I'm not sure if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me?

I'm agreeing with you.

As what you wrote is already known by many in the industry. Should be their new business slogan, "We at THO Nordic are the Bottom Feeders of the games industry."

I got a few more Spell-force games and a future Gothic Remake out of these deals. So I'm just making fun of them, but we do get games from some of those bought IP's.

Oh, right. Didn't know that was their reputation.

That buying though has paid off. There now one of the biggest game publishers with a lot of various developers under their umbrella. Even Piranha Bytes is owned by them.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
I'm agreeing with you.

As what you wrote is already known by many in the industry. Should be their new business slogan, "We at THO Nordic are the Bottom Feeders of the games industry."

I got a few more Spell-force games and a future Gothic Remake out of these deals. So I'm just making fun of them, but we do get games from some of those bought IP's.

They have a habit of saving some good games series from disappearing, like the ones you mentioned. I like them for that and am happy if they continue doing this.

Originally Posted by Kordanor
Zen Studios also made Operencia btw.

Operencia as a game is very good (love the exploration, combat and the dialog). I restarted the game, since they added VR, and it´s being one of the best experiencies I have had with blobers in some time. If you have VR, you should try this one (and it´s not a out of the box VR adaptaion). If they develop Operencia 2 with VR in mind (and if is as good as Op1) i belive we can have a leap in immersion and playability in this kind of games.

I actually owned their stock, made a nice 20% profit, but now I sold it, it is good business buying studios for bargain price, and give them the possibility to produce something a bit better, especially if they have some nice IP's under the hood.