THQ Nordic & Koch Media Swap Game IPs

May 6, 2020 at 7:53pm
By Jason Stettner

The two sister companies of THQ Nordic and Kock Media publishing have swapped some game IPs over in a recent transfer. This will see new games, or remasters and remakes from either of the companies that now own the titles.

This sees Koch Media gaining Red Faction and Painkiller. THQ Nordic gains a lot including Risen; Sacred, Rush for Berlin, Second Sight and Singles: Flirt Up Your Life. Details and descriptions for each of the games is below.

”Farewell, Painkiller! Hell & Damnation was just an all around awesome project to work on. It is hard to believe that it was already 8 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.”

”Farewell, 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!”

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

Sacred
The Sacred series is a hack and slash RPG series and is reminiscent of Diablo. Same concept: level, loot, perfecting your character.

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.

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

Next Steps for the Gothic Remake
THQ Nordic will establish a new studio based in Barcelona, Spain, and will then assess what players liked and what they want to be different than in the playable teaser. One of the most common mentions was for example the demand for a grittier and less colourful world. Here is an example of how this could be tweaked:

"We are up for the challenge to develop a full Gothic Remake which will stay as faithfully as possible to the original experience and transport the atmospheric world of Gothic into a high quality look and carefully modernizing certain gameplay mechanics." says Reinhard Pollice Business and Product Development Director at THQ Nordic.

The full Gothic Remake will go into production and will be developed for PC and next gen consoles. There is no release window available yet, but it will not be coming in 2020.

Read our write-up on the recently announced TimeSplitters, or general game hubs for additional coverage of titles.

Read about TimeSplitters Being Worked On
View our Game Hubs