In a rather sudden move, THQ Nordic, the massive publishing company, has just purchased Koch Media for €121 million. Koch Media is a large game publication studio as well, boasting such companies as Deep Silver (Dead Island), Volition (Saints Row), and more. In the press release, THQ Nordic explains that Koch Media and all subsidiaries will not be majorly impacted by this, and will continue operating as a separate entity. All current games in development by Koch Media/Deep Silver will continue as planned. The CEO of Koch Media mentions that after commercial failures like Homefront and Agents of Mayhem, THQ Nordic will be able to "closely monitor" their new IPs and publishing choices, and be able to help the company make wise choices in the future.

THQ Nordic AB (”THQ Nordic” or the “Company”) has, through its wholly owned subsidiary, SALEM einhundertste Holding GmbH, today entered into an agreement with the owner, Koch Media Holding GmbH (the “Seller”), of Koch Media GmbH (“Koch Media”) to acquire 100 percent of the share capital in Koch Media. The total consideration amounts to EUR 121 million on a cash and debt free basis (the “Transaction”).

Koch Media is a leading, independent producer and marketer of digital entertainment products in Europe and North America with studios in Germany, the UK, and the US, and offices in several Central and Northern European cities. Koch Media’s business consists of three business areas; i) Games, which are mainly published under the Deep Silver label with several AAA-intellectual property rights such as Saints Row, Dead Island and Metro; ii) Partner Publishing, which is the leading company in this business area in Europe and iii) Film, which is a business within movies for primarily the German and Italian speaking territories. Koch Media generated net sales of approximately SEK 2,548 million and Adjusted EBIT[1] of approximately SEK 296 million for the period April - December 2017.

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[Deleted User]

wasn't THQ dead though? or am i just massively out of the loop, I thought saint's row was handed over to deep silver because THQ went under

 

[Xzi]

Wait wait wait...Koch, as in the Koch brothers? They own(ed) Volition?

 

[kumikochan]

wasn't THQ dead though? or am i just massively out of the loop, I thought saint's row was handed over to deep silver because THQ went under

Yeah THQ was dead but got taken over by Nordic games hence the name THQ Nordic

 

[Chary]

wasn't THQ dead though? or am i just massively out of the loop, I thought saint's row was handed over to deep silver because THQ went under

Nordic Games bought THQ when it died, and it turned into THQ Nordic. So now it owns all of THQ's properties and trademarks that were not sold off, and it appears they want to buy the rest of them that they don't already have.

 

[leon315]

Well at least we will probably see another Saint row, even I'm not fan of that series tho...

 

[G0R3Z]

I hope this doesn't affect Kingdom Come: Deliverance too badly when it was just released. I know it wasn't made by Deep Silver, but it was produced.

 

[FAST6191]

Wonder if we are seeing the rise of the next ubisoft or EA.

 

[Jayro]

Oh boy, more monopolizing...

 

[pedro702]

so they now have publishing rights over shenmue 3? since that was deep silver right?
And the metro series?

 

[kumikochan]

so they now have publishing rights over shenmue 3? since that was deep silver right?
And the metro series?

Yup

 

[pedro702]

Yup

i wonder if they are gonna make it for xbox one tough since they have publishing rights wich means if they want a xbox one version on shenmue they will do it imo.

 

[kumikochan]

i wonder if they are gonna make it for xbox one tough since they have publishing rights wich means if they want a xbox one version on shenmue they will do it imo.

They got the rights yeah but i'm guessing in the contract to those rights is the deal with Sony wich they can't ignore

 

[pedro702]

They got the rights yeah but i'm guessing in the contract to those rights is the deal with Sony wich they can't ignore

Yeah i dont know how that works so sony pays to help develop, then a random company has the publishing rights its kinda confusing, one would think they would ask sony to publish it for them instead of a random company.

 

[kumikochan]

Yeah i dont know how that works so sony pays to help develop, then a random company has the publishing rights its kinda confusing, one would think they would ask sony to publish it for them instead of a random company.

It's actually not that confusing. A legal contract was signed by multiple parties making the contract binding. If THQ Nordic buys over the company that signed that part of the contract well then they own that deal that was partly made with them but they still have to take in consideration the other parties that signed the legal binding contract. and under wich terms. A contract doesn't change unless in the contract was written that if one of the parties goes bankrupt or backs out or whatever that the contract wouldn't be binding anymore but i'm pretty sure Sony and Deep silver at the time would be smart enough not to put something like that in the contract. So the contract stays the same as it is now only that thq nordic have a part of the publishing rights. I'm probably explaining it in a lot more confusing way then i have 2

 

[zeveroth]

wasn't THQ dead though? or am i just massively out of the loop, I thought saint's row was handed over to deep silver because THQ went under

I thought the same thing. TBH, I was a little shocked to see their name.

 

[VitaType]

THQ Nordic and Deep Silver? Fits. THQ Nordic behaves okay in the recent years. I'm fine with that, dosn't seems to be a problem to me.

Wait wait wait...Koch, as in the Koch brothers? They own(ed) Volition?

No, that's a different unrelated family. Koch is a pretty standard surname in the south of Germany (Koch just means Cook and I think it's equal common) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Media

 

[Tizm]

saints row trilogy incoming? LETS GET IT

 

[KevinLSX]

I thought THQ died? I remember them on the old ps2 smackdown vs raw games.

 

[FAST6191]

I thought THQ died?

They did. Nordic games bought the remains and wears its decaying skin these days.