THQ Nordic acquire Koch Media

THQ Nordic, owners of the Red Faction, de Blob, and Darksiders properties, is in the process of acquiring Koch Media, owners of the Saints Row, Metro, and Dead Island properties as well as publisher Deep Silver. The deal is set for completion and approval later today, and is reportedly worth €121 million (around $149 million).

This deal may eventually lead to IPs like Metro and Saints Row being reunited with the THQ name. The rights to these games were acquired by Deep Silver when the THQ name moved to Nordic Games, which was renamed THQ Nordic in 2016. While this is a great vision for the future the companies will remain largely unchanged for the foreseeable future.

CEO of Koch Media Klemens Kundratitz said that there will be no changes for operations or headcount. He says that he believes Koch Media, Deep Silver, and THQ Nordic are a great fit strategically, and now that Koch Media is part of a stock listed company they can continue to grow and develop all parts of every business.

The Swedish stock market will see the company listed as Nordic AB, with a new name to come for the group later this year, however consumer facing brands will be remaining under their current names. Some press outlets view this as a lost opportunity to gain market visibility by bringing all properties under the well known THQ name.

The group bring together a number of specialisations. Koch Media has been an important partner to Square Enix, Capcom, Codemasters, Focus, Bethesda, and many more for distribution or publishing work across Europe. THQ Nordic on the other hand have experience in both the owning and development of IPs and their publishing and distribution. Together the group house everything needed to get a game from concept into the hands of players.

Founder, CEO, and Majority Shareholder of THQ Nordic AB, Lars Wingefors, said that Koch Media is suited to the vision for growth he and many others have for the group as a whole. Deep Silver in particular, he said, have four triple A games currently in development, including Metro Exodus, which will lead, he believes, to further growth for years to come. Also to come is another triple A release from Dambuster Studio, not to mention the other games in development such as Darksiders 3 or Biomutant which THQ Nordic announced last year.

He ended by saying that THQ Nordic AB plans to remain the leading European publishing partner for a very long time.