THQ Nordic's spending spree continues. After buying Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer Warhorse Studios and Gothic developer Piranha Bytes earlier this year it's now opened its wallet for Gunfire Games, the studio behind Darksiders 3 and shooter Remnant From the Ashes, which comes out next week.
Gunfire Games and its 63-strong development team will remain an "independent development studio under THQ Nordic", the publisher said. "The team will...[have] full creative freedom and maintained relationships with current publishing partners. Gunfire will continue to be led by CEO David Adams and all active founders will remain in their current roles," it said.
"Through the acquisition THQ Nordic adds a strong team of RPG experts and award-winning VR developers with an existing intellectual property IP portfolio and an exciting new game pipeline." In addition to Darksiders 3, Gunfire is known for its VR games, which include the excellent third-person action-RPG Chronos.
The publisher did not disclose the purchase price, but said it expects to recoup its investment within three to four years as Gunfire releases more games.
THQ Nordic published Darksiders 3 and acquired the rights to the Darksiders franchise in 2013 when publisher THQ went bankrupt, so the deal isn't a huge shock.
Gunfire Games' Adams said: “Having worked together on the development of Darksiders, we are confident that becoming part of THQ Nordic is a great next step for Gunfire. I believe that the experience and publishing capabilities of THQ Nordic will be important in supporting our growth journey and enabling us to continue doing what we love—making great games. We are excited to continue working together going forward.”
On the same day it announced the deal, THQ Nordic also revealed it planned to change its name to Embracer Group in September. Embracer Group will be the name of the parent company, which three operating groups beneath it: Koch Media/Deep Silver, Coffee Stain and THQ Nordic GmbH.