The Kingdoms of Amalur IP has been picked up by THQ Nordic. In a move that nobody saw coming, Kingdoms of Amalur officially has new life under the THQ umbrella. According to THQ Nordic, they were able to strike a deal to acquire the IP and all assets from the original game. On THQ’s official Twitter page they made the announcement saying:
We are beyond proud to announce that THQ Nordic has acquired the “Kingdoms of Amalur” IP, among other assets, from 38 Studios.
Its a shocking move as the game and 38 Studios have a very messy history surrounding them. The studio ended up going bankrupt after borrowing an exorbitant amount of money from the state to fund the titles. From here, 38 Studios were forced to give all assets and IP to the state of Maryland as part of their compensation.
That doesn’t take away from the quality of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning which was met with a warm reception on release in 2012. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sits at an 81 on Metacritic making it a critical success that has gone on to be a cult classic for many gamers. It’s a fantastic action RPG that had a ton of potential for future iterations. It’s exciting to see what THQ Nordic has planned for upcoming titles.
THQ Nordic has been doing these kinds of acquisitions since their inception, bringing on a swath of established IP to fill out their catalog. Darksiders, DeBlob, Red Faction, and the upcoming Biomutant are games that look to fill the middle tier, AA space after the void was left by the original THQ’s closing in 2013.
It is expected that Kingdoms of Amalur will likely receive a sequel in the next few years but we don’t know much more than that. Be sure to check back to The Nerd Stash for all future updates on the Kingdoms of Amalur series!
