We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

THQ return, somehow: Nordic Games rebrand as THQ Nordic

THQ Nordic logo

Well this is … odd. Unsuccessful publishers THQ, who weren’t exactly all-stars other than putting out the Ben-favourite Darksiders and being lucky enough to have Relic under their wing for a brief period in the mid-00, are being resurrected. Nordic Games, who bought up many of their IPs when THQ went under are rebranding to THQ Nordic, bringing the name back.

Looking forward to a whole new batch of upcoming PC games.

“THQ Nordic represents a core approach of doing much more than ‘owning’ a highly competitive portfolio of IP” reads the press release as way of explaining the move. “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.”

What does that mean for you and me? More games. “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.”

Here’s some likely candidates from Nordic’s vault:

  • Darksiders – original developers Vigil Games were mostly incorporated into Gunfire Games, who constructed the remasters.
  • Titan Quest – a very well received ARPG with good name-power.
  • Red Faction – a well-known franchise, and Guerilla is still praised.
  • MX vs. ATV – had a game just last year, likely for more.
  • Nexus: The Jupiter Incident – Not a THQ property but, well, we can hope.

We’ll probably hear more from them at Gamescom which, I say with panic in my eyes, is just five days away. We’ll end with trivia: THQ apparently standards for Toy Head-Quarters, named for when the company was a toy manufacturer in the mid-90s. Strong.