THQ Nordic acquires Saints Row, Metro publisher for €121 million

Saints Row 4
Saints Row 4 (Image credit: Deep Silver)

THQ Nordic has announced the acquisition of Koch Media and its video game publishing label, Deep Silver. In a deal worth €121 million (roughly $150 million), THQ Nordic will acquire the firm in its entirety, while taking onboard a range of Deep Silver studios, including Saint Row's Volition and Homefront's Dambuster Studios.

THQ was formerly a big name in video games publishing but amidst financial troubles, sold its assets across a variety of firms, liquidating the publisher. Nordic Games acquired what remained of THQ in 2013, before striking a balance under a new name, "THQ Nordic." As detailed in a press release, Lars Wingefors, CEO THQ Nordic, welcomes the acquisition, citing "four ongoing AAA game projects."

Koch Media has a long history of profitability despite losses incurred from some less successful game releases. THQ Nordic is convinced that the development studios of Deep Silver as part of THQ Nordic will successfully deliver at least four ongoing AAA game projects including Metro Exodus as well as the next Volition Studio AAA release and the next Dambuster Studio AAA release, together with a number of other game development and publishing titles.

This latest acquisition will bring a range of new titles under the THQ wing once again, including the Saints Row and Metro franchises. Names such as Dead Island, Homefront, and Galaxy on Fire will also fall under this deal, securing strong library of IP going forward.

Following the deal, Koch Media will continue to operate its existing offices, with no announcement of restructuring after the acquisition. For THQ Nordic, especially in its games publishing efforts, the firm continues to rebuild the THQ former empire, joining De Blob, Darksiders, MX vs ATV, Red Faction, among other titles.

Matt Brown

Matt Brown was formerly a Windows Central's Senior Editor, Xbox & PC, at Future. Following over seven years of professional consumer technology and gaming coverage, he’s focused on the world of Microsoft's gaming efforts. You can follow him on Twitter @mattjbrown.