THQ Nordic acquires Koch Media; a bright future for beloved titles like Metro, Darksiders, Saints Row and more

It was a grim time when developer/publisher THQ went bankrupt and had to sell off some of its properties resulting in an uncertain and bleak future for games like the Saints Row series and Darksiders series. But things are definitely looking up as, following an interesting turn of events, almost all the games that were developed under the THQ banner have come in possession of THQ Nordic. A huge chunk of it can be attributed to the recent announcement made by THQ Nordic, stating that it will be taking over Koch Media.

Koch Media had been the one holding the rights to the Saints Row and Metro IPs and post the acquisition they will belong to THQ Nordic. THQ Nordic has the resources and intentions to keep the titles alive. Koch Media which had been valued at 91 million Euros has been acquired for a net 121 million Euros. When combining the assets from both giants, the parent company has control over 36 internal and external studios and about 106 IPs which includes games like Red Faction, MX vs. ATV, Darksiders, Metro, Saints Row, Homefront.

While THQ Nordic has bought Koch Media, the latter will still function as a separate entity with no change in the company. 

Officially licensed Dakar game, Dakar 18 scheduled to release this year; will boast one of the biggest open worlds in any racing game

The Dakar Rally is the world's toughest race and covers a vast amount of land and pits the participants against each other in some of the harshest environments with many not even making it to the finish line. So it is befitting that the first look cinematic of 'Dakar 18',  a game based on the very event capture that same sense of man against land.

Bigmoon Entertainment and Deep Silver/Koch Media have announced a global distribution and co-publishing agreement for DAKAR 18. The cross-country rally racing game is aiming to be one of the biggest open worlds ever made in a racing game and will be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC in 2018. There will be offline campaign as well as multiplayer modes with players being able to pilot a variety of vehicle including motorcycles, cars, trucks, quads and SxS.

From what we could gather from the trailer, there will be a variety of terrains like rocky, muddy and slush filled which could affect the driving of the player. The trailer also shows some rain and even a huge desert storm at the end which could hint towards massive climate changes happening dynamically.

“We are proud to be partnering with A.S.O and Koch Media in order to bring a truly realistic DAKAR racing experience to players worldwide,” said Paulo J. Games, Game Director of Bigmoon Entertainment. “As the official developer of the project, we are sure that DAKAR 18 will be the finest representation of real life DAKAR in a video game.”

DAKAR rally is known as the biggest cross-country rally, so BIGMOON is creating one of the biggest open worlds ever made in a racing simulation. DAKAR 18 is focused on the realism, promising stunning visuals faithfully represent every vehicle and driver of the DAKAR 2018 rally.