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Nordic Games acquires THQ's Darksiders, Red Faction and more in $4.9M bid

Michael McWhertor is a journalist with more than 17 years of experience covering video games, technology, movies, TV, and entertainment.

Nordic Games acquired "substantially all" of THQ's remaining intellectual property, including titles in the Darksiders, Red Faction and MX series, pending court approval, as part of a $4.9 million bid for multiple lots of the defunct publisher's games.

Two titles — Homeworld and Drawn to Life — received higher bids from other entities, Gearbox Software and 505 Games, respectively, according to court documents.

"The Debtors accepted Nordic's offer of $4.9 million for substantially all the IP except two titles, Homeworld and Drawn to Life," a court document reads. "The bids for individual lots for the assets, excluding the Homeworld lot, did not exceed $4.9 million, and Nordic paid a premium over such individual bids to acquire the aggregate lots."

Nordic Games will acquire more than 150 individual titles as part of the accepted bid. The publisher calls the sale the "biggest acquisition deal in the company history."

A full list of confirmed titles acquired by Nordic Games was not provided, with certain games and IP listed as "removed" in a court document.

"As we still have some open points with regards to a couple of titles we will not publish a comprehensive list at this stage," a Nordic Games spokesperson explained to Polygon. "However, once everything is fixed and the ink is dry (around mid-May) we will go out with a comprehensive list of titles which we have acquired in the process then."

Lars Wingefors, owner and CEO of Nordic Games Group AB, said in a statement that the acquisition of THQ's property "turns over a new leaf for the entire Nordic Games Group."

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

Other noteworthy intellectual property from the sale includes Titan Quest, Supreme Commander, Frontlines, Stuntman, Juiced, Full Spectrum Warrior and Destroy All Humans.

The US Bankruptcy Court is expected hear the motion for the sale on May 13 and to finalize purchase transactions.

Earlier today, Gearbox Software announced it had submitted the highest bid for the Homeworld franchise. Court documents reveal the property was purchased in a $1.35 million bid. Gearbox beat out Aspyr Media for the sci-fi strategy game series.

In February, THQ announced that its remaining games and intellectual property would be auctioned off in lots. The lots were broken down into six groups of the following titles and franchises:

  • Darksiders series
  • Red Faction series
  • Homeworld series
  • MX series
  • Other Owned Software, including Big Beach Sports, Destroy All Humans!, Summoner, and more
  • Other Licensed Software, including Marvel Super Hero, Supreme Commander, Worms, and more

In some cases, ownership of the overall intellectual property is not for sale, simply the rights to distribute certain games on specific platforms. Those initial bids were turned in last week with the company noting that they received 17 final bids for "certain of the IP." If approved by the court and certain holders of claims against THQ, those sales are expected to bring in anywhere from $6 million to $7 million.

In February, the company said they received "more than 100 expressions of interest" in purchasing its IP and that a "vigorous sale is anticipated."

In January, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of some of THQ's in-development games and studios for $72 million. The auction saw THQ properties like Saints Row and Metro go to Koch Media, developer Relic go to Sega and South Park: The Stick of Truth go to publisher Ubisoft.

THQ failed to find buyers for some of its intellectual property and studios, like Darksiders and developer Vigil Games. THQ was dissolved and its staff laid off on Jan. 23.

The full list of of owned and licensed games up for auction is listed below in detail by lot.

Lot 1 - Owned Software

  • Red Faction
  • Red Faction Armageddon
  • Red Faction 2
  • Red Faction: Guerrilla

Lot 2 - Owned Software

  • Homeworld
  • Homeworld 2

Lot 3 - Owned Software

  • MX Alive
  • MX vs ATV Untamed
  • MX Superfly featuring Ricky Carmichael
  • MX vs. ATV Alive Tournament
  • MX Unleashed
  • MX vs. ATV Unleashed
  • MX vs ATV Reflex
  • MX vs. ATV: On The Edge

Lot 4 - Owned Software

  • Darksiders
  • Darksiders 2

Lot 5 - Owned Software

  • All Star Cheer Squad
  • All Star Cheer Squad 2
  • All Star Karate
  • Baja: Edge of Control
  • Battle of the Bands
  • Beat City
  • Big Beach Sports
  • Big Beach Sports 2
  • Big Family Games
  • Crawler
  • Deadly Creatures
  • Deep Six
  • Destroy All Humans!
  • Destroy All Humans! 2
  • Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed
  • Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon
  • Dood's Big Adventure
  • Drawn to Life
  • Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter
  • Elements of Destruction
  • Fantastic Pets
  • Frontlines: Fuel of War
  • Full Spectrum Warrior 1
  • Full Spectrum Warrior 2: Ten Hammers
  • Juiced
  • Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights
  • Lock's Quest: Construction Combat
  • Neighborhood Games
  • Pax Imperia
  • Stuntman: Ignition
  • Summoner
  • Summoner 2
  • Terranium
  • The Outfit
  • Titan Quest
  • Titan Quest: Immortal Throne
  • World of Zoo
  • de Blob
  • de Blob 2
  • uDraw

Lot 6 - Licensed Software

  • Costume Quest
  • Daniel X (SueJack)
  • Deepak Chopra's Leela (Curious Holdings)
  • Fancy Nancy: Tea Party Time! (Harper Collins)
  • Jeopardy
  • Jeopardy 2
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth
  • Let's Ride Best of Breed
  • Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat
  • Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet
  • Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet 2
  • Nancy Drew: The Hidden Staircase
  • Nexuiz
  • Paws & Claws Marine Rescue
  • Paws & Claws Pampered Pets Resort 3D
  • PurrPals 2
  • Rio
  • Rocket Riot
  • Screwjumper (Frozen Codebase)
  • Scripps Spelling Bee (Scripps)
  • Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House
  • Stacking
  • Supreme Commander
  • Supreme Commander Forged Alliance
  • The Biggest Loser
  • Truth or Lies
  • Vampire Legends: Power of Three (dtp)
  • Wheel of Fortune
  • Wheel of Fortune 2
  • World of Zoo
  • Worms 2
  • Worms: A Space Oddity
  • Worms: Open Warfare 2 (Team 17)
  • Worms Battle Islands
  • Worms Open Warfare
  • You Don't Know Jack (Jellyvision)

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