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.
Find comments from each party below:
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.”
THQ Nordic has also signed with Metro series developer 4A Games for an “upcoming, still undisclosed, AAA project,” the company announced.
The company also mentioned that its THQ Nordic, Deep Silver, and Coffee Stain Studios groups currently have a collective 80 games in development, 48 of which are currently unannounced.