The publishers THQ Nordic and Koch Media exchange several of their brands among themselves. The rights to Painkiller and Red Faction move from THQ Nordic to Koch Media. In exchange, the licenses of Sacred, Risen, Rush for Berlin, Second Sight and Singles: Flirt Up Your Life are transferred to THQ Nordic.
The publishers are of course not strangers to each other, but both operate under the roof of the Swedish parent company Embracer Group (formerly THQ Nordic AB). Nevertheless, they are largely autonomous publishers who make their own business decisions.
THQ Nordic announced the brand swap on Twitter:
THQ Nordic trades Painkiller & Red Faction for Koch Media's Sacred, Risen, Rush for Berlin, Second Sight & Singles: Flirt Up Your Life!
Koch waves farewell as their IPs are transferred. "Take good care of them!"#THQNordic #KochMedia pic.twitter.com/HLVmXJXY9K
– THQ Nordic (@THQNordic) May 5, 2020
Why do publishers trade brands?
At the moment it is only possible to speculate about the reasons for exchanging the brands. There may be plans to reissue or remaster some of the brands. If this is the case, the publishers could now try to redistribute the resources. But this is only one possible explanation.
The brands are mostly older franchises that have not received a new entry for years. The exchange does not necessarily mean that there are new plans with the brands – A redistribution in the administration of rights would also be conceivable.
Officially there is no opinion. We asked both publishers for a statement about the reasons for the brand swap and will update this message when we get a response.
