14 DAY TRIAL // Nordic Games, the new owner of many older franchises and games made by the now-bankrupt THQ, has confirmed that its first goal is to make most of the older titles available through online services, while working on sequels for a lot of them.
After its bankruptcy, THQ was forced to sell its intellectual properties and studios, with many being auctioned at the beginning of the year, while others were sold last week.
At the last auction, one of the biggest buyers was Nordic Games, which managed to acquire big franchises like Darksiders, as well as plenty of smaller titles that were made – or at least published – by THQ, from Supreme Commander, to MX vs. ATV, and much more.
According to Nordic Games boss Lars Wingefors, who talked with VentureBeat, the first goal is to get all these titles up on digital stores in order to generate income.
"Most of the titles are already available online, but a lot of the assets aren't available. That's one of our first goals: to bring these games to online retailers," Wingefors said. "I know the millions of gamers that bought them. I know the math of the commercial side of it. Most of the titles that are producing income generate revenue every minute."
What's more, the CEO also mentioned that his company participated at the big auction at the beginning of the year but ultimately decided to go after the smaller IPs in order to maximize profits.
"I wanted the smaller assets," Wingefors added. "Pretty much everything that was left after the February auction. We were part of the auction in December, but we decided not to go for one of the big IPs because it was just too much money. I don't want to own a studio. I'd rather own the rights to the IP."
Last but not least, Nordic also wants to create sequels for most of the franchises, but only with the smaller IPs, as creating a new Darksiders title, for example, would require a lot of financial effort.
"I believe firmly that we should try to work with the original creators first to see if they want to bring out sequels. They would be best fitted to take the games back to their roots. I do expect new titles from these properties in the next few years. I wouldn't necessarily say something will happen with the largest IPs, like Darksiders, only because it's such a big product. It will be easier with the smaller IPs."
Nordic Games mentioned last week that fans shouldn't expect a new Darksiders anytime soon.