Nordic Games' plans for THQ titles in early stages, Deadly Creatures high on the list

Young video game company Nordic Games now owns the majority of bankrupt publisher THQ's most famous properties, including Darksiders, Red Faction and the MX series. Its plans for those franchises are still gelling, says Reinhard Pollice, Nordic Games' business and product development director.

But Nordic Games may soon have news to share about its recently purchased properties, Pollice tells Polygon.

Nordic Games acquired "substantially all" of THQ's remaining intellectual property in April in a $4.9 million bid that gave the company ownership of dozens of franchises and rights to publish certain games on certain consoles. Following the approval of that sale by the bankruptcy court, Nordic has found itself in the process of acquiring all the code associated with the games it now owns. While much of that has gone smoothly, Pollice says, the company is still waiting on some assets from THQ and its developers.

The flux of THQ's games to Nordic is reflected in the slate of former THQ titles on Steam, Pollice pointed out. Games like Darksiders 2 and Red Faction: Armageddon still list THQ as their publisher, but that will change soon, he said.

Pollice says Nordic Games hopes to develop new entries in THQ's biggest franchises and is in the process of communicating with the former developers of those franchises and external studios. Darksiders, Red Faction and MX are at the top of Nordic's list of future titles, and would likely require an outside partner to develop, but Pollice says the acquisition brought other strong properties to Nordic.

Titan Quest and Deadly Creatures are two of the lesser exploited properties that Nordic — and, for the latter, Pollice personally — are interested in reviving. Titan Quest, a hack-and-slash action RPG that drew comparisons to Diablo, was originally released in 2006 for Windows PC and developed by Iron Lore Entertainment. Rainbow Studios' Deadly Creatures came to Wii in 2009, letting players take control of a scorpion or tarantula in battles against other insects, rodents and reptiles.

As for the long list of IP that includes titles like uDraw, Destroy All Humans! and more, Pollice says they'll be considered on a case-by-case basis. Nordic is still in the early stages of wrangling its assorted IP and trying to find favorable deals.

Pollice mentioned that Nordic is willing to work with developers and stakeholders on its smaller IPs. In the case of Double Fine's Stacking and Costume Quest, to which THQ (now Nordic) held console distribution rights, Pollice said we may hear a development on that front in the coming weeks.