Nordic Games snaps up Darksiders and Red Faction IPs at THQ auction

A low profile Swedish publisher has snapped up most of what remained of THQ's IP portfolio overnight, including the Darksiders and Red Faction IPs. Auctioned off in lots, Nordic Games can now lay claim to The Biggest Loser and Jeopardy franchises (hooray?), as well as MX vs ATV, Worms, Juiced, Destroy All Humans!, Titan Quest and much more.

In a statement, Nordic owner Lars Wingefors said the publisher was willing to co-operate with developers responsible for previous games in their acquired properties. "First and foremost we are very happy about this deal which also turns over a new leaf for the entire Nordic Games Group," Wingefors said. "In the long term, we either want to cooperate with the original creators or best possible developers in order to work on sequels or additional content for these titles.

"A very important point for us is not to dash into several self-financed multi-million projects right away," he continued, "but rather to continue our in-depth analysis of all titles and carefully selecting different financing models for developing new instalments of acquired IPs."

For $4.9 million, Nordic Games walked away from the auction with nearly every remaining THQ IP except Homeworld - which went to Gearbox for $1.35 million. Of course, a lot of the meatier stuff (Company of Heroes, Saints Row, Homefront and South Park) was bought back in January.

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Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.