THQ Nordic Acquires Piranha Bytes

THQ Nordic have been continuing to amass a large amount of smaller studios and IP, and this trend is continuing with the recent acquisition of German development team Piranha Bytes.

Piranha Bytes are mainly known for their output on PC, making a name for themselves with the cult classic Gothic franchise. The 30-person development studio is also responsible for the release of the Risen franchise, and the 2017 RPG ELEX. Naturally, THQ Nordic have also acquired the rights to these three IP alongside the studio itself.

Piranha Bytes Project Director and Game Designer Björn Pankratz stated “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”.

He continues; “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”.

When asked about potential Risen or Gothic remakes, Piranha Bytes claimed there was “Nothing to say at this stage”, but when asked about ELEX 2 the response was a much less definitive “Have a guess”. It might be safe to assume that ELEX 2 is currently in the pipeline.