THQ Nordic acquires Piranha Bytes (Gothic, Risen, ELEX)

Deleted member 10737 · May 22, 2019

https://gematsu.com/2019/05/thq-nordic-acquires-piranha-bytes

THQ Nordic has acquired Piranha Bytes, the studio behind the Gothic, Risen, and Elex series, the company announced.

The acquisition includes the development studio and all intellectual property rights. THQ Nordic and Piranha Bytes have agreed upon not disclosing the purchase price, but stated, "the purchase price equals c. three years of what management's estimated royalty payments to Piranha for upcoming titles would have been, if the acquisition had not occurred."

Piranha Bytes will remain an independent game development studio under the newly formed entity Piranha Bytes GmbH. The team will continue to focus on game development and have "full creative freedom in doing so," whereas THQ Nordic will act as the studio's publisher. The studio will continue to be led by CEO Michael Ruve and head of games Bjorn Pankratz, and all active owners will remain in their current roles.

Lars Wingefors, Group-CEO THQ Nordic AB

"Piranha Bytes is one of the most iconic german game studios and the creators of RPG´s Gothic, Risen and, more recently, Elex. The three strong IPs have proven successful and will be great additions to our portfolio. We look forward bringing Piranha team into the family which has received legendary status across the RPG community as their fan base cherishes their current games and eagerly anticipates their new titles in the future."

Michael Ruve, CEO Piranha Bytes

"We have a successful and long-standing relationship with THQ Nordic and are very excited to join the group. THQ Nordic has unparalleled experience and capabilities in games development and publishing, and we are convinced they are the perfect partner to support Piranha in taking the studio to the next level. We see a unique opportunity to continue to develop great, memorable and impactful RPG games, now being part of the THQ Nordic family."

Silky · May 22, 2019

Elex is one of the finest RPGs to release this generation, without a doubt. Here's hoping it's business as usual for that team following the acquisition.

Shame about the publisher tho

kendominfinity · May 22, 2019

How does THQ Nordic keep buying all these devs?

Hayama Akito · May 22, 2019

Sometimes I think THQ Nordic is a big, giant money laundering machine or something like that. I don't have proof but also no doubts.

Deleted member 10737 · May 22, 2019

kendominfinity said:
How does THQ Nordic keep buying all these devs?

the guy who owns the parent company has a lot of money.

TimPV3 · May 22, 2019

kendominfinity said:
How does THQ Nordic keep buying all these devs?

I know they're releasing a buttload of remasters, but I can't imagine their sales numbers being that high. Money laundering?

Toxi · May 22, 2019

Welp, there goes my chance of buying anything new by Piranha Bytes.

kendominfinity · May 22, 2019

mazi said:
the guy who owns the parent company has a lot of money.

Doesn't seem like they've been releasing a lot of hits tho.

TimPV3 said:
I know they're releasing a buttload of remasters, but I can't imagine their sales numbers being that high. Money laundering?

Same. Even with deep silver how many copies of kingdom come or darksiders 3 did they sell.
Just saw the report on the other thread. Never knew kingdom sold 2 millions copies. That's a good amount for a first game from warhorse.

svacina · May 22, 2019

kendominfinity said:
Doesn't seem like they've been releasing a lot of hits tho.

The guy who owns the parent company has a lot of money independently of his video games business.

rhandino · May 22, 2019

Hopefully they get more money. A lot of their games problems could be solved with more time and funding tbh

Toxi · May 22, 2019

mazi said:
the guy who owns the parent company has a lot of money.

svacina said:
The guy who owns the parent company has a lot of money independently of his video games business.

I have to wonder what happens when this vanity project collapses.

DarkDetective · May 22, 2019

kendominfinity said:
Doesn't seem like they've been releasing a lot of hits tho.

Same. Even with deep silver how many copies of kingdom come or darksiders 3 did they sell.

Kingdom Come has sold over 2 million units. Metro Exodus is probably above 1 million now as well. However, one big source of money you may not have thought about is the stock market. They basically sold themselves, and they keep making more shares to sell, get money (last round was $225m), and invest that in more projects and more acquisitions.

R.T Straker · May 22, 2019

kendominfinity said:
How does THQ Nordic keep buying all these devs?

PB is like a 30 studio people tops so this kinda makes sense for them.

But they're a studio that only lives through their past legacy. All of the main talent behind Gothic is long gone.

Deleted member 10737 · May 22, 2019

kendominfinity said:
Doesn't seem like they've been releasing a lot of hits tho.

i guess they're thinking long-term.
don't forget that the parent company handles distribution of some of the biggest 3rd titles in europe. a lot of 3rd party publishers (capcom, SE, koei tecmo, bethesda, sega, etc) rely on them to release their games in europe, that must make them quite a bit of money.

sredgrin · May 22, 2019

They are able do this because their games are also modest in budget guys it's not that difficult to parse.

Pooroomoo · May 22, 2019

kendominfinity said:
Doesn't seem like they've been releasing a lot of hits tho.

Same. Even with deep silver how many copies of kingdom come or darksiders 3 did they sell.

Not exactly the same, but look at it this way - Capcom expects a FY with higher sales than last year without any new games (except a MH DLC), so in a large part based on ports and its back catalog sales - this is (I think) somewhat similar to THQ Nordic strategy. Plus Koch Media is the publisher for nearly everything in Europe.

andymoogle · May 22, 2019

Toxi said:
Welp, there goes my chance of buying anything new by Piranha Bytes.

Yep. It's a shame.

Diggeh · May 22, 2019

removed

takoyaki · May 22, 2019

Happy for Piranha Bytes, even if was THQ Nordic who bought them :/

According to Wikipedia, PB got the rights back to the Gothic IP a while ago. Risen and Elex have their fans, but Gothic has always been the fan favorite imo. This acquisition might be the chance we finally get a new Gothic game with proper funding that could grow the franchise outside of Europe or at least some quality remakes.

Greenlock · May 22, 2019

andymoogle said:
Yep. It's a shame.

Yeah, really disappointing. I have a hard time seeing how I could support THQ with the shit they've been up to. I like their business model from a conceptual perspective but that doesn't change the fact that their values seem to suck.

DaciaJC · May 22, 2019

takoyaki said:
According to Wikipedia, PB got the rights back to the Gothic IP a while ago. Risen and Elex have their fans, but Gothic has always been the fan favorite imo. This acquisition might be the chance we finally get a new Gothic game with proper funding that could grow the franchise outside of Europe or at least some quality remakes.

I've heard very good things about the Gothic series, especially in terms of quest design. It'd be nice if we got a modern entry for those who haven't been able to play the previous games.

kendominfinity · May 22, 2019

mazi said:
i guess they're thinking long-term.
don't forget that the parent company handles distribution of some of the biggest 3rd titles in europe. a lot of 3rd party publishers (capcom, SE, koei tecmo, bethesda, sega, etc) rely on them to release their games in europe, that must make them quite a bit of money.

Pooroomoo said:
Not exactly the same, but look at it this way - Capcom expects a FY with higher sales than last year without any new games (except a MH DLC), so in a large part based on ports and its back catalog sales - this is (I think) somewhat similar to THQ Nordic strategy. Plus Koch Media is the publisher for nearly everything in Europe.

I forgot they publish a bunch of games in Europe. Heck their even publishing Shenmue 3.

Psyrgery · May 22, 2019

THQ

Avengers-End-Game-Surprise_-Google-%E2%80%98Thanos%E2%80%99-and-Click-the-Infinity-Gauntlet-Now-818x490.jpg

Hailinel · May 22, 2019

Well, shit.

Also, man, we are a millennium away from the age everyone here celebrated THQ Nordic buying up devs and IPs left and right.

peter42O · May 22, 2019

Was always interested in Elex but the bad gameplay and combat system turned me off from trying it. Hopefully, THQ Nordic gives them a good amount of money, time and resources for their current/next game.

DarkDetective · May 22, 2019

mazi said:
i guess they're thinking long-term.
don't forget that the parent company handles distribution of some of the biggest 3rd titles in europe. a lot of 3rd party publishers (capcom, SE, koei tecmo, bethesda, sega, etc) rely on them to release their games in europe, that must make them quite a bit of money.

Almost $62 million just on distribution of those third-party games in the last quarter (Jan-Mar).

Deleted member 45414 · May 22, 2019

I've been on the fence about buying Elex for a long time, but this settles that, won't support THQ.

Sander VF · May 22, 2019

Psyrgery said:
THQ

Needs to be a picture of Thanos sucking off Red Skull for full accuracy.

Syrenne · May 22, 2019

(Shoutouts to Mark)

newmoneytrash · May 22, 2019

this sucks

Villein · May 22, 2019

we need a Gothic remake

shuno · May 22, 2019

Great. Now give us a new Gothic or remakes of the first two.

DisasterMaster · May 22, 2019

I deadass still cant believe these dumb fucks held an AMA on 8chan even after the second they posted about it everyone went "Holy shit fuck no". The sheer gall they actually had to not only continue with it but make a tweet basically saying they got a guy to handle the gross stuff is fucking amazing

Pasha · May 22, 2019

Hayama Akito said:
Sometimes I think THQ Nordic is a big, giant money laundering machine or something like that. I don't have proof but also no doubts.

TimPV3 said:
I know they're releasing a buttload of remasters, but I can't imagine their sales numbers being that high. Money laundering?

kendominfinity said:
Doesn't seem like they've been releasing a lot of hits tho.

Same. Even with deep silver how many copies of kingdom come or darksiders 3 did they sell.
Just saw the report on the other thread. Never knew kingdom sold 2 millions copies. That's a good amount for a first game from warhorse.

Man these comments are fucked up to see to be honest. Jim Sterling has been preaching about how the modern AAA publishers are not just content with getting some money, but they want ALL the money, ALL the money that can be possibly had in this industry and nothing less than that would be enough, and now here we are, when one publisher is actually content with making some money and not ALL the money possible people start thinking that the publisher is actually a fucking money laundering scheme. THAT is how much the modern AAA publisher greed has been normalized in gaming community. It's fucking insane!

Alexandros · May 22, 2019

shuno said:
Great. Now give us a new Gothic or remakes of the first two.

I would like this very much.

Genryu · May 22, 2019

Pasha said:
Man these comments are fucked up to see to be honest. Jim Sterling has been preaching about how the modern AAA publishers are not just content with getting some money, but they want ALL the money, ALL the money that can be possibly had in this industry and nothing less than that would be enough, and now here we are, when one publisher is actually content with making some money and not ALL the money possible people start thinking that the publisher is actually a fucking money laundering scheme. THAT is how much the modern AAA publisher greed has been normalized in gaming community. It's fucking insane!

I mean, if they're fine with homophobia, white nationalism, and child pornography I wouldn't be surprised if they were also okay with money laundering.

Reinhard · May 22, 2019

TimPV3 said:
I know they're releasing a buttload of remasters, but I can't imagine their sales numbers being that high. Money laundering?

Maybe the guy who owns the parent company is a big fan of forgotten AA releases and wants re-release them plus new AA games no matter if they actually make money.

Alexandros · May 22, 2019

Reinhard said:
Maybe the guy who owns the parent company is a big fan of forgotten AA releases and wants re-release them plus new AA games no matter if they actually make money.

If I had a lot of money I would totally buy Volition and give them a huge budget to make Freespace 3.

Sander VF · May 22, 2019

Pasha said:
Man these comments are fucked up to see to be honest. Jim Sterling has been preaching about how the modern AAA publishers are not just content with getting some money, but they want ALL the money, ALL the money that can be possibly had in this industry and nothing less than that would be enough, and now here we are, when one publisher is actually content with making some money and not ALL the money possible people start thinking that the publisher is actually a fucking money laundering scheme. THAT is how much the modern AAA publisher greed has been normalized in gaming community. It's fucking insane!

I think it's just general disdain in light of THQ Nordic's recent actions.

DarkDetective · May 22, 2019

Alexandros said:
If I had a lot of money I would totally buy Volition and give them a huge budget to make Freespace 3.

They already own Volition as part of Deep Silver ;)

Zero-ELEC · May 22, 2019

Alexandros · May 22, 2019

DarkDetective said:
They already own Volition as part of Deep Silver ;)

I know, but I still don't have my Freespace!

electroaffe · May 22, 2019

Perfect match!

El-Suave · May 22, 2019

It's cool, if you see the "offices" where their game has been made, they can put any money they get to good use.
I just hope THQ doesn't collapse one day because it would take down vast parts of Europe's development and publishing landscape with it.

Toxi · May 22, 2019

Pasha said:
Man these comments are fucked up to see to be honest. Jim Sterling has been preaching about how the modern AAA publishers are not just content with getting some money, but they want ALL the money, ALL the money that can be possibly had in this industry and nothing less than that would be enough, and now here we are, when one publisher is actually content with making some money and not ALL the money possible people start thinking that the publisher is actually a fucking money laundering scheme. THAT is how much the modern AAA publisher greed has been normalized in gaming community. It's fucking insane!

I'm not sure spending mostly on studio acquisitions is supposed to look like restraint.

Icemonk191 · May 22, 2019

RIP Piranha Bytes.

Nolbertos · May 22, 2019

THQ trying to rival EA in Europe buying studios left and right. All thats left is for them to buy the CD Project Red and the Witcher series and they'll have a good portfolio of games to release.

Patapuf · May 22, 2019

svacina said:
The guy who owns the parent company has a lot of money independently of his video games business.

In fact, he has so much money that this THQ thing is a passion project. At least it was initially

Imitatio · May 22, 2019

I love how THQ turns into this AA release factory. Good to see. Hoping for more financial backing for those teams.

L Thammy · May 22, 2019

DisasterMaster said:
I deadass still cant believe these dumb fucks held an AMA on 8chan even after the second they posted about it everyone went "Holy shit fuck no". The sheer gall they actually had to not only continue with it but make a tweet basically saying they got a guy to handle the gross stuff is fucking amazing

The guy they got to handle the gross stuff was the board owner. The head admin of 8chan's /v/ or something like that. So I wonder how that went.

"'Hey Mark, we want to do an AMA on your site, but I hear there's uh, gross stuff there. Can you remove that?"
"Sure! Oh, but there's going to be a big link for /trapshota/ - lolis with a few extra inches on the top of the page. And people might be posting Nazis and crusaders and shit."
"Sounds good!"

THQ Nordic acquires Piranha Bytes (Gothic, Risen, ELEX)

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