THQ Nordic Reels In Piranha Bytes [May 22, 2019, 09:40 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
THQ Nordic announces the acquisition of German developer Piranha Bytes, saying
they've also snapped up three of the developer's intellectual properties,
Gothic, Risen, and ELEX. They offer a FAQ on the topic, saying
this will result in no personnel changes, and they do not plan on moving the
company to Vienna. They also strongly hint that an ELEX sequel will come at some
point, while declining to comment on the possibilities of Gothic or Risen
remakes. Here's word:
THQ Nordic today announced that the acquisition of the Piranha Bytes team and trademark and the intellectual property Gothic has been finalised. Piranha Bytes' rights to Risen and ELEX were also acquired.
“Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.” John F. Kennedy (1961)
Although statements like the following should not be done within the context of a press release, we still do it:
All of us here at THQ Nordic welcome every single member of the Piranha Bytes team to our family. We already had our fair share of laughter (well, every time we meet in person), fun (conventions, Christmas- and Summer parties, or karaoke singing), tears (when the wrong person hits the karaoke stage), and sweat (Batman cosplay @Gamescom 2018 comes to mind) together, and from now on it is in an officially joint capacity as well. The closing of the transaction is subject to the approvals of the committees of Piranha Bytes.
The newly formed entity (Piranha Bytes GmbH, Essen, Germany) will host the entire development team and is a 100% subsidiary of THQ Nordic GmbH, based in Vienna, Austria. As in the past, the team will focus and concentrate on the creation of outstanding and unique RPG gaming experiences, having full creative freedom in doing so, whereas THQ Nordic GmbH will act as Piranha Bytes' publisher, responsible for distribution, marketing and further support.
“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”, says Björn Pankratz, Project Director and Game Designer of Piranha Bytes. “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.”
FAQ
Employees/Staff
Q: Will there be any changes in personnel at Piranha Bytes (PB)?
A: No.
Q: Will PB change location and move to Vienna?
A: No, what happens in Ruhrpott, stays in Ruhrpott.
Company/legal technicalities
Q: What is the deal, why is there a new company being incorporated?
A: Technically speaking, Pluto 13 GmbH (the former company behind the Piranha Bytes brand) sold the trademarks “Piranha Bytes” and “Gothic” as well as the entire Gothic IP to THQ Nordic AB. The remaining rights of Risen and ELEX, which were in other entities of the Piranha Bytes folks, were also acquired by THQ Nordic AB. In the forefront of the closing of this deal, THQ Nordic GmbH set up a new entity (initially named “THQ Nordic Reserve 1 GmbH”; in the next days renamed to “Piranha Bytes GmbH”). This company is now stepping into the existing employment and service agreements with all personnel and has also acquired the existing office equipment (furniture, hardware, coffee machine).
Intellectual Properties
Q: What about ELEX 2?
A: Semi-official comment: Have a guess.
Q: What does this mean for potential remakes of Gothic and/or Risen?
A: Nothing to say at this stage.
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Cutter wrote on May 22, 2019, 16:26:
Well I think it's safe to say if you liked Gothic and/or Risen you'll like Elex. Deffo worth picking up at $20 or less.
Not safe at all.
My opinion is that Gothic = best RPG of all time, closely followed by Gothic 2 NiT3 0f the r4V3n, Risen series was mostly mediocre and Elex? Dude? Come again? Fuck Elex.
Weird genre mix, shit story that is being even shittier delivered, shit characters, shit combat and animations for the 7th game in a row, same old structure and same long in the tooth tropes for the 7th time in a row as well while the strengths of the past like a reactive game world, multiple quest solutions, complex quest structure etc. have fallen by the wayside. Instead they made a HUGE ass world that they were barely able to fill with any meaningful content.
It's a solid pass for anyone with standards and I'd only recommend it at sub $10 if one is starving for an open world RPG and if there is nothing else to play, no backlog, no nothing.
Well I think it's safe to say if you liked Gothic and/or Risen you'll like Elex. Deffo worth picking up at $20 or less.
CJ_Parker wrote on May 22, 2019, 10:11:Damn I hate hearing that news. jowood was a horrible publisher and responsible for PB's difficulties starting with the Gothic 3.
...By the way: The Vienna branch of THQ Nordic that acquired PB is effectively the ghost of JoWooD with many former JoWooD employees still working there. The circle is now complete.
Scorpio Slasher: ... What about you boy, what do hate?
Marcus: ... Bullies. Tiny d*ck egotists who hurt people for no reason, make people lock their doors at night. People who make general existence worse, people like you.
Marcus: ... Bullies. Tiny d*ck egotists who hurt people for no reason, make people lock their doors at night. People who make general existence worse, people like you.
Everybody is loving on the Gothic, which I totally agree with, but not so much on Risen. I enjoyed the hell out of all 3 games in that series, maybe not quite to the level I did Gothic, but I finished them, and I think I played the first one through twice. Yeah, Elex didn't get the hype train it should have, seemed to be under the radar, but I'm glad others enjoyed it besides me. A sequel news is cool.
What I like about all three series is that you start out totally weak and will die very quickly if you don't figure out how to fight correctly and/or wander into an area with tougher baddies. Eventually you become bad-ass, of course, and the payoff really feels good because of how much you worked for it.
What I like about all three series is that you start out totally weak and will die very quickly if you don't figure out how to fight correctly and/or wander into an area with tougher baddies. Eventually you become bad-ass, of course, and the payoff really feels good because of how much you worked for it.
CJ_Parker wrote on May 22, 2019, 10:11:yuastnav wrote on May 22, 2019, 09:47:
Huh? I though Elex 2 was already being developed.
Did you even read the news? If you look at the FAQ section the 'Have a guess' part is obviously a 99.9% confirmation of Elex 2 being in development.I didn't know that the Gothic brand belonged to Piranha Bytes. I thought it belonged to the now defunct JoWood.
The Gothic IP returned to PB in 2012 after the contract with JoWooD had expired. JoWooD had originally signed the IP with an expiration date of 12/31/2011. The IP returned to PB after that date.
By the way: The Vienna branch of THQ Nordic that acquired PB is effectively the ghost of JoWooD with many former JoWooD employees still working there. The circle is now complete.
I did read the news, that's why I wondered why they dodged a direct answer even though it's quite obvious that they are developing the sequel.
Now we donce.
Cutter wrote on May 22, 2019, 10:20:
Yeah, Gothic was great but they've never quite gotten there again. Elex is pretty good too, but not Gothic good. Risen was meh. Dunno if this is a good or bad thing.
The first Risen is pretty good. Better than Gothic in some ways, worse in others, but pretty darn good. The Risen sequels plummeted in quality though.
Haven't played Elex yet.
Bill Borre wrote on May 22, 2019, 10:20:
I've heard of Gothic and Risen but not Elex so I checked its Steam listing. It looks like a Fallout clone.
Not really. It's a post-apocalyptic setting, yeah, but it doesn't play like any Fallout beyond standard RPG stuff. For example, your primary transportation is a permanent jetpack. It's way more brutal than the newer FO games, mainly because enemies aren't scaled to your level. So straying from the path early on will get you killed. There's a pretty deep story with significant branching paths, too, including which of the three factions you choose to join (or not).
Yeah, Gothic was great but they've never quite gotten there again. Elex is pretty good too, but not Gothic good. Risen was meh. Dunno if this is a good or bad thing.
I've heard of Gothic and Risen but not Elex so I checked its Steam listing. It looks like a Fallout clone.
yuastnav wrote on May 22, 2019, 09:47:
Huh? I though Elex 2 was already being developed.
Did you even read the news? If you look at the FAQ section the 'Have a guess' part is obviously a 99.9% confirmation of Elex 2 being in development.
I didn't know that the Gothic brand belonged to Piranha Bytes. I thought it belonged to the now defunct JoWood.
The Gothic IP returned to PB in 2012 after the contract with JoWooD had expired. JoWooD had originally signed the IP with an expiration date of 12/31/2011. The IP returned to PB after that date.
By the way: The Vienna branch of THQ Nordic that acquired PB is effectively the ghost of JoWooD with many former JoWooD employees still working there. The circle is now complete.
Huh? I though Elex 2 was already being developed. Piranha Bytes even got some European grant of 400000€ or something like that. I liked Elex. My favourite game of all times will always be Gothic and the Risen games were okay but I actually liked Elex.
I didn't know that the Gothic brand belonged to Piranha Bytes. I thought it belonged to the now defunct JoWood.
Too bad KaiRo is not making the music for these games anymore.
It is good to see that Piranha Bytes still has a future though.
I didn't know that the Gothic brand belonged to Piranha Bytes. I thought it belonged to the now defunct JoWood.
Too bad KaiRo is not making the music for these games anymore.
It is good to see that Piranha Bytes still has a future though.
Now we donce.
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