THQ Nordic and Koch just traded IPs like sports teams

You don’t see this every day

An unusual transaction took place yesterday, video game companies swapping properties like a trade between two sports teams. All that’s missing is conditional draft picks and players to be named later.

In a blockbuster move, THQ Nordic shuttled off two well-known properties to Koch Media in return for five other IPs. (Okay, maybe it’s not a “blockbuster” per se, but I want to use the sports reporter lingo.) In the trade, THQ Nordic got Risen, Sacred, Rush for Berlin, Second Sight, and Singles: Flirt Up Your Life. Koch Media walked away with Red Faction and Painkiller.

The sports analog stops tracking when you consider this was likely made possible by the fact that THQ Nordic and Koch Media are part of the same organization. THQ Nordic acquired Koch Media in 2018, and they’re both subsidiaries of Swedish holding group Embracer Group. That doesn’t mean it was easy, though. There was probably still a lot of legal and corporate oversight.

This move was seemingly made with the intent of getting some series closer to their original developers. For instance, Red Faction moving to Koch Media means that it can once again be in the hands of Volition, who made the original game back in 2001. It also puts Risen under the care of its creator Piranha Bytes.

If the sports thing doesn’t quite add up for you, consider it in the way that THQ Nordic reported the news on Twitter. Think of it like two Pokemon trainers swapping pocket monsters:

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