Gearbox Bought out by THQ Nordic - Or How Lars Wingefors spent a billion dollars just to get Duke Nukem a new game.

[ZMOT]

So this THQ is different people, same name, different philosophy? If they can reignite older THQ franchises, that would establish them.

they revived/redid quite a few beloved franchises (new aquanox game, titan quest expansion, darksiders etc), it's one of the reasons they're not outright hated because they seem to know what they're doing.
the only issue so far is deep silver which bent over for epic repeatedly, first with shenmue 3 (since they were the publisher), then with the whole metro debacle.
from what I remember the different parts act somewhat independently (or at least did back then), deep silver is part of koch, not thq nordic for example.

TakeTwo miss out on the Codemasters deal, now lose the meal ticket in Borderlands. They are going to be far more aggressive in the market trying to buy something to cover those losses

borderlands is just a single franchise and you can only milk something for so long, that randy had to spread his asscheeks for timmy's chinkdick is telling in itself. besides that, what else does gearbox even have except flops? brothers in arms?
they tried to get into publishing, but that will probably be handled by someone else now, means they have to deliver games that sell. can you see gearbox managing that?

if embracer is smart they put pedorandy in an ironclad clause and kick him out the moment they can, else there's a good chance he's gonna pull another colonial marines on them.

Bullestorm 2 still isn't gonna happen, so whatever.

honestly, who knows at this point. crazier things have happened.
now, battleborn revival on the other hand...

 

[Kulee Baba]

TakeTwo miss out on the Codemasters deal, now lose the meal ticket in Borderlands. They are going to be far more aggressive in the market trying to buy something to cover those losses

They still have two of the largest money printing machines in the industry with GTA Online and NBA 2K.

Personally if they were looking to buy someone (and not ruin the studio) I'd like them to grab IO Interactive. Always felt like the Hitman series and GTA were edgy kindred spirits.

 

[Marissa Moira]

This may wind up being good for European Simulator fans. While companies like Focus usually publish them, THQ started to make some inroads into assorted car simulator genres a few years ago. They could really polish up some genres that always suffered from being under budget.

That and I'd love to see diving sims return. Some bongland companies put them out still, but they're all digital. They're also usually tied under the edutainment banner so they get government money to help fund the cost. But even Japan abandoned making diving simulators and nothing has yet to beat Everblue or Endless Ocean. Gearbox was the publisher for Subnautica for home consoles.

 

[NeitherEnemyNorFriend]

New owners, same old creepy Randy Bitchford as the boss of Gearbox. Will they trust him with USB drives still?

 

[JongleJingle]

Please god let the Duke 2002 build come out, please god let the Duke 2002 build come out, PLEASE GOD LET THE DUKE 2002 BUILD COME OUT

Could we also see a return to Brothers in Arms? Shit, there's an awful lot THQ can now do to set up some serious nostalgia cash ins.

 

[LegoTugboat]

A note that they also purchased two other studios.

1. Aspyr Media - Originally a Mac porting studio, but have expanded to publishing for iOS, Android, Switch and PS4. Noteable titles are Stubbs The Zombie, Civs 4-6, The Sims 2, Call of Duty series, Neverwinter Nights 2, and KOTOR 1 and 2 for iOS and Android.

2. EasyBrain - Sudoku for iOS and Android. Nonogram for iOS and Android. Also jigsaws for iOS and Android. Nuff said.

 

[Screw Danlon]

I am willing to bet good money on Focus Home Interactive being consumed by them in the next few years.

That wouldn’t be terrible. THQ -Nordic-Silver seems to be at least expectant of a certain base level of quality, whereas FHI doesn’t.

Also here’s hoping Randy Pedofork gets told to take his contract and shove it up his ass.

 

[White Devil]

Please god let the Duke 2002 build come out, please god let the Duke 2002 build come out, PLEASE GOD LET THE DUKE 2002 BUILD COME OUT

Could we also see a return to Brothers in Arms? Shit, there's an awful lot THQ can now do to set up some serious nostalgia cash ins.

Honestly not sure how well a WWII shooter would sell in 2021, considering the only ones out recently that wasn't that CoD abortion are autistic mil sims catering to a very niche crowd.

Not that I don't wish they did more BIA games instead of Borderlands, since after all it is the franchise that literally put Gearbox on the map. I just think times have moved on from WWII shooters.

 

[Dom Cruise]

Years back, THQ was forced to sell all of it's assets in a week long bidding war due to the uncontrollable debt they built up. You merely need to look into the mishandling of Saints Row 3, (Sasha Grey was almost 1/3 of the budget) the millions invested into what would become EVOLVE and the uDRAW tablet.

2K, Deep Silver and a bunch of other publishers came in and swooped up what they wanted. EA being the real winners, getting UFC for borderline pennies. Whatever was left over, was placed into a large all-for-one sale including the copyright and legal usage of the THQ brand. Nordic games swooped in and claimed it all for a fairly minimal fee. Knowing that the larger gaming public knew nothing about them (prior to doing the Alan Wake PC port) they adopted the name THQ and the rest is history.

What is amusing is the warpath THQ has undergone to not only reclaim it's prior IP's (merging with Deep Silver for example) but the sheer domination they have across the European market. I am willing to bet good money on Focus Home Interactive being consumed by them in the next few years.

It's basically what happened to Midway (becoming Warner games) and the various bastards that became Atari

They seriously spent that much money on Sasha Grey?

A note that they also purchased two other studios.

1. Aspyr Media - Originally a Mac porting studio, but have expanded to publishing for iOS, Android, Switch and PS4. Noteable titles are Stubbs The Zombie, Civs 4-6, The Sims 2, Call of Duty series, Neverwinter Nights 2, and KOTOR 1 and 2 for iOS and Android.

2. EasyBrain - Sudoku for iOS and Android. Nonogram for iOS and Android. Also jigsaws for iOS and Android. Nuff said.

Stubbs The Zombie could use a re-release, always wanted to play that but the PC version got removed from Steam and the Xbox version is expensive.

 

[Dumpster dived waifu]

Think Randy tried to upsell the company's worth a bit by bringing weird fetish porn to the meeting?

 

[Vault Boy]

Cool, can we now get Baker's squad fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, please?

 

[The Last Stand]

I want more Nicktoons remasters.

 

[Quintex96]

How I imagine the meeting after the acquisition went

Randy: Do I get a raise?
THQ: No
Randy: Do I still get to make decisions?
THQ: No
Randy: Can I still do magic?
THQ: Your hobbies are your own business
Randy: Can I do magic on stage at E3?
THQ: Even if there still is an E3, No.
Randy: Can I be CEO of THQ-Nordic?
THQ: Fuck no
Randy: Can I still be CEO of Gearbox
THQ: eah, sure w-
Randy: Thanks Bye!

 

[Snekposter]

I am willing to bet good money on Focus Home Interactive being consumed by them in the next few years.

Oh, please let that happen. Focus' stuff is always this close to being truly enjoyable instead of just more Eurojank.

 

[Titos]

Bullestorm 2 still isn't gonna happen, so whatever.

Gearbox doesn't own Bulletstorm, it's actually owned by People Can Fly still, Gearbox just worked on the shitty definitive edition.

A note that they also purchased two other studios.

1. Aspyr Media - Originally a Mac porting studio, but have expanded to publishing for iOS, Android, Switch and PS4. Noteable titles are Stubbs The Zombie, Civs 4-6, The Sims 2, Call of Duty series, Neverwinter Nights 2, and KOTOR 1 and 2 for iOS and Android.

2. EasyBrain - Sudoku for iOS and Android. Nonogram for iOS and Android. Also jigsaws for iOS and Android. Nuff said.

Wait, do they own the rights to Stubbs? I thought Disney owned it. If they port Stubbs to modern hardware I'll buy that shit day one.

 

[starborn427614]

Timesplitters remaster collection pls

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Well, look at the list you posted sorted by release date. Spongebob, Wreckfest, and Destroy All Humans were big hits if I remember, Darksiders and Titan Quest were never my thing, but they seem to have a following.

While I don't know the ins and outs of how THQ Nordic work, one thing that's often left out when people like Jim Sterling cover the industry is that EA and Ubisoft games have huge budgets. I wouldn't be surprised if the games I mentioned were done relatively cheap.

As far as I know, THQ Nordic isn't woke. I'm sure there's some wokeness there (they've just bought Gearbox after all), but they're still hated by the left for refusing to bend the knee.

It still smells fishy in a cashy-crashy Icelandic way.

 

[Juan But Not Forgotten]

Gearbox doesn't own Bulletstorm, it's actually owned by People Can Fly still, Gearbox just worked on the shitty definitive edition.

Google says Epic Games owns the rights for it. That's even more fucked up if true.

 

[LegoTugboat]

Gearbox doesn't own Bulletstorm, it's actually owned by People Can Fly still, Gearbox just worked on the shitty definitive edition.

Wait, do they own the rights to Stubbs? I thought Disney owned it. If they port Stubbs to modern hardware I'll buy that shit day one.

Sorry, fam. Wideload Games developed Stubbs, and it was published by Aspyr.

Wideload was bought by Disney Interactive Studios in 2009, and was closed in 2014. And Disney Interactive Studios was closed in 2016, so I'd say that Disney itself owns Stubbs currently.

 

[Fuck Y'all]

>Randy Pitchsquirt didn't got the boot

sage