THQ Nordic continues quest to be the coolest gaming company on Earth, purchases rights to Kingdoms of Amalur

THQ Nordic has been on a rampage lately, ripping through the gaming industry and snapping up beloved franchises left and right. Not only are they buying up tons of slumbering properties, but they are actually doing something with those properties, developing and releasing games that come flying out of left field to the delight of long time gamers.

So far this year, THQ Nordic have: resurrected the Titan Quest franchise; announced a new Darksiders game; acquired the rights to Saint’s Row, Homefront, and Metro 2033 with the purchase of Koch Media; acquired the rights to TimeSpliters and Second Sight, and dropped hints about a new Destroy All Humans title.

Now, in their latest delightful power move, THQ Nordic announced that they have acquired the rights to the intellectual property “Kingdoms of Amalur” from 38 Studios. This deal covered the original property and the abandoned “Amalur” MMORPG project.

For those not familiar, here is a synopsis of the original Amalur game (released in 2012):

“The minds of New York Times bestselling author R.A. Salvatore, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston have combined to create Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a new role-playing game set in a world worth saving. Build the character you've always wanted and continuously evolve it to your style of play with the revolutionary Destiny system. Choose your path and battle through a master-crafted universe featuring some of the most intense, responsive, and customizable RPG combat ever.”

38 Studios was a wild venture, founded by former professional baseball pitcher Curt Shilling, who somehow got funding from the State of Rhode Island. After Reckoning (which got great reviews, including a 9.5 from Gaming Nexus) failed to reach sales goals, the governor of Rhode Island tweeted that the game was a failure, which then led to a lot of finger pointing and hard feelings. 38 Studios shut down later the same year that the game released, and the franchise has sat dormant ever since, a relic of a soured business arrangement.

And now, here comes THQ Nordic, swooping in (as they do) to breath life and hope into what was considered to be a dead IP. It is getting to the point where every time I see the words “THQ Nordic” in a press release, I give a little cheer. I'm sure it will be a while before we hear anything about a new game, but I'm betting we will probably see a remaster of Reckoning before too long, which is a fine start. That game was awesome, and it deserves a second chance to gain a wider audience.