THQ Nordic announced this morning to have acquired German developer Piranha Bytes, a studio well known to RPG fans for their Gothic, Risen and ELEX games.
jörn Pankratz, Project Director and Game Designer of Piranha Bytes, said in a statement:
There are situations in life where you think to yourself “This feels right.” Well, this is exactly one of them. We have been working on some great and exciting things over the past couple of years and we are extremely stoked about what the future brings with the right partner and the right network of companies. After all, we want to continue to create great, memorable, and impactful games with as much creative freedom as possible, and with THQ Nordic we know we are now part of a family, which support us by all means in our efforts.
According to the press release, THQ Nordic will retain full creative freedom to create unique RPG gaming experiences. There's also a FAQ (which we've also reported below) that basically confirms ELEX 2, while there's no word yet on remasters/remakes of Gothic and Risen. Still, considering that THQ Nordic usually does that for all the franchises it can get its hands on, we'd bet it will happen at some point.
FAQ
Employees/Staff
Q: Will there be any changes in personnel at Piranha Bytes (PB)?
A: No.Q: Will PB change location and move to Vienna?
A: No, what happens in Ruhrpott, stays in Ruhrpott.Company/legal technicalities
Q: What is the deal, why is there a new company being incorporated?
A: Technically speaking, Pluto 13 GmbH (the former company behind the Piranha Bytes brand) sold the trademarks “Piranha Bytes” and “Gothic” as well as the entire Gothic IP to THQ Nordic AB. The remaining rights of Risen and ELEX, which were in other entities of the Piranha Bytes folks, were also acquired by THQ Nordic AB. In the forefront of the closing of this deal, THQ Nordic GmbH set up a new entity (initially named “THQ Nordic Reserve 1 GmbH”; in the next days renamed to “Piranha Bytes GmbH”). This company is now stepping into the existing employment and service agreements with all personnel and has also acquired the existing office equipment (furniture, hardware, coffee machine).Intellectual Properties
Q: What about ELEX 2?
A: Semi-official comment: Have a guess.Q: What does this mean for potential remakes of Gothic and/or Risen?
A: Nothing to say at this stage.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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