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THQ Nordic has launched new studio Nine Rocks Games.
Reportedly already at work on its first release, thought to be a survival shooter game, the new company was formed in Bratislava, Slovakia, and will be led by former DayZ project lead, David Durcak. Durcak, who’s now CEO at Nine Rocks, had previously been with Bohemia Interactive for five years (thanks, GI.biz).
This is the third studio to be added to THQ Nordic’s parent company, Embracer, recently, joining with Swedish outfit River End Games and C77 Entertainment in Seattle, US. Last year THQ Nordic as acquired Darksiders developer Gunfire Games for an undisclosed sum. Gunfire, which is currently based in Austin, Texas, retained its 63 staff and said it would continue to operate with David Adams as CEO.
“With the acquisition of Gunfire Games we are strengthening THQ Nordic’s footprint in the US, and are adding an experienced and talented development team that we know very well from having collaborated on Darksiders,” THQ Nordic CEO Lars Wingefors said at the time.
THQ Nordic AB – the holding company that owns publishers such as Koch Media, Deep Silver, Coffee Stain Holding, and THQ Nordic GmbH – recently rebranded as Embracer Group. While the company did not explicitly detail why it was making the change, it’s thought the rebrand may be to distinguish it from its subsidiary publisher, THQ Nordic GmbH, perhaps following its subsidiary’s decision to host an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session on the 8chan website – a site banned from Google for grossly offensive material, including child pornography and hate speech – was almost universally condemned by the industry.
