THQ Nordic acquires Deep Silver, meaning Saints Row is back at THQ

THQ Nordic announced today that it has acquired Koch Media, the parent company of video game publisher Deep Silver, in a deal worth €121 million ($149 million). As part of the acquisition, THQ Nordic — formerly known as Nordic Games — is now the owner of game series Saints Row, Homefront, Dead Island, Metro and more.

In other words, the new THQ now owns the brands the old THQ sold off after it filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

A quick refresher on how we got here:

• Publisher THQ files for bankruptcy in December 2012, and auctions off its studios and intellectual property to multiple companies in early 2013.
• Koch Media, which owns the Deep Silver publishing label, purchases Saints Row developer Volition and the Metro property at auction.
• Crytek offers to buy the Homefront property, and later sells to it Koch Media.
• Nordic Games buys up a substantial amount of THQ’s property, including Darksiders, Red Faction and the MX series.
• Nordic Games later acquires the THQ trademark and changes its name to THQ Nordic.
• THQ Nordic buys Koch Media’s games, publishing and film business, bringing a number of games previously published by THQ back to the label.

THQ Nordic’s acquisition of Koch Media and Deep Silver brings the number of total employees at the new company to more than 1,600 across a combined 36 internal and external studios. Together, the companies own 106 intellectual properties, according to a news release, including the game franchises mentioned above, as well as Agents of Mayhem, Risen and Galaxy on Fire.

THQ Nordic and Koch Media have a combined 50 game projects in development. Seventeen of those have been announced as of Dec. 31, 2017, while 33 remain unannounced. One of those unannounced titles is a new AAA game from Saints Row developer Deep Silver Volition.

Koch Media will operate as a separate entity under THQ Nordic, according to the news release. No restructuring or cost-saving programs are planned, the company says, suggesting that there will be no layoffs as part of the acquisition. Additionally, THQ Nordic said that “names of both operational companies, including its publishing units Deep Silver and THQ Nordic, will remain unchanged.”