On February 13, 2019, THQ Nordic's subsidiary Koch Media has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 of the shares in Prague based Warhorse Studios, developer of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, for 33.2MEUR on a cash and debt free basis.
”Warhorse Studios is one of the leading independent studios in Europe and I am proud to welcome them to the THQ Nordic group. Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which has now sold over 2 million copies, has been a great success since the release exactly one year ago. I look forward to continue working with the founders who will continue managing the studio under strong creative freedom for many years to come", says Lars Wingefors, CEO of THQ Nordic AB.
“Becoming part of THQ Nordic family is an important milestone for our studio. We began as a small start-up with a handful of employees who were enthusiastic enough to join this challenging project. The skills of our team members, trust and support of our main investor and passion of our fans, who supported development of Kingdom Come: Deliverance through a Kickstarter campaign, helped us grow to an international level. We believe that backing by THQ Nordic will give us an extra push in our mission to bring exciting games to our customers and extend the frontiers of the gaming industry,” says Martin Frývalský, CEO Warhorse Studios.
Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO Koch Media GmbH adds: “We are delighted to welcome the team from Warhorse Studios in the Family. The successful cooperation we developed during our journey with Kingdom Come: Deliverance linked both our companies already very closely and I am sure that our now even closer combined knowledge and experience will open up amazing new opportunities for both companies. Not only the 2 Million sold copies but also the motivation within the teams to create new ideas combined with the learnings from the past, are a rock solid foundation for future projects to build on.”
February 13th marks not only the 1st anniversary of the release but also unlocks a new sales achievement for the game. Warhorse and Koch Media are proud to announce that the title has sold over 2 million copies across all platforms by now. Alongside this, the game has also won over 30 media, show and sales awards all around the globe.
THQ Nordic has a clear growth strategy and a long and successful history of acquiring game franchises, development studios, publishing, and partner publishing companies. The acquisition of 18POINT2 means that THQ Nordic and Koch Media expands their global network and establishes a local platform for continued development in Australia and New Zealand. This is in line with the long-term global growth strategy.
18POINT2 is considered as one of the most experienced and reputable teams on the local market. The Company acts as partner to leading international brands. Roger Clarke, who has previously held executive positions within Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, founded 18POINT2 during 2016 which today has 8 employees. The company is owned by Roger Clarke and Cahn Hewitt, both of whom will continue leading the Company.
Through the acquisition, THQ Nordic expands its network of local publishing partners to new exciting markets with great potential outside of Europe and USA. The acquisition also provides an opportunity to launch current portfolios of gaming products to new markets and gives Koch Media’s partners within development, publishing and distribution, a chance to further develop a collaboration with local publishing expertise. The acquisition also creates an opportunity for Australian game developers to work with a local publishing office,
”THQ Nordic and Koch Media will through the acquisition access an established platform on an exciting and growing market. We see great opportunities to establish us on a new market and through local engagement being able to offer the use of THQ Nordic’s global channels to Australian game developers. We look forward to working with Roger Clarke and his team” says Lars Wingefors, Group CEO THQ Nordic.
”We look forward to, together with THQ Nordic and Koch Media, strengthen our position on the Australian and New Zealand markets. We believe that THQ Nordic’s and Koch Media’s experience will contribute to continued profitable growth for 18POINT2 in the future”, says Roger Clarke, CEO 18POINT2.