Battle for Bikini Bottom was originally released in 2003, as the first of two SpongeBob games by Heavy Iron. The game saw you fight a robot invasion of the titular town masterminded by series’ villain Plankton using a variety of weapons based on famous gags from the show. Though it had mixed reception upon its release, it’s enjoyed a cult status in recent years in great part thanks to its popularity as a speedrunning game. It was followed a year later by a game adaption of the show’s theatrical debut.

This remake comes in the wake of THQ Nordic (formerly Nordic Games) making several fast acquisitions of other studios and properties. In March 2018 a contract between Activision and Nickelodeon came to an end, allowing THQ Nordic to strike a partnership to re-release 16 Nickelodeon franchises that had been previously published by THQ. Other properties recently bought by THQ include Kingdoms of Amalur, Alone in the Dark, TimeSplitters and Outcast.

Though THQ Nordic has said that the reason they waited to rename themselves was to avoid negative connotations of the THQ brand following its commercial collapse, it has since managed to create a dreadful reputation all of its own. After an AMA session on the image board 8chan, infamous for hosting and encouraging harassment campaigns, racism and child pornography, THQ Nordic has rightfully been looked down as pariah by much of the industry. CEO Lars Wingefors has since issued an apology.

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Deep Silver, along with the rights to franchises like Homefront, Metro, Dead Island, and Saints Row, and now belong to THQ Nordic. Nordic has stated that Deep Silver and it’s parent company, a German media group called Koch Media, would operate separately from Nordic. And they have said no financial restrictions will be placed on their newly acquired developers, hopefully meaning no layoffs.

Deep Silver had been doing fairly well as a smaller game publisher even with some missteps like Agents of Mayhem. You could often see newer, less mainstream titles getting the Deep Silver backing. THQ Nordic seems adamant that Deep Silver and Koch Media will operate as they always have, but I wonder what Nordic will do as soon as another Agents of Mayhem mishap happens.

It’s really strange to see anyone desire the days of old THQ. It makes sense for a company the size of Nordic to want a few extra franchises, especially successful ones like Metro or Saints Row, in their pocket. However it’s hard to believe that old THQ will somehow be better in someone else’s hands. Here’s hoping Nordic knows when to pump the brakes before we’re talking about uDraw tablets all over again.

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In their press release, THQ Nordic stated that this is “the next phase in our company’s evolution,” not just taking on the THQ brand, but also taking on much larger projects. Previously they’d worked on publishing boxed versions of Alan Wake, remastering Painkiller, and distributing Ori and the Blind Forest on PC among a handful of small, original titles. Now, THQ Nordic boasts 23 projects currently in development, including 13 that will be announced over the coming months. THQ Nordic also stated that many of the projects are based on former THQ franchises and IPs.

Nordic has made significant growth since its founding in 2008, going from a company with two people publishing titles like Dance Party Club Hits and Truck Racer. In 2009, they landed their first million plus selling title called We Sing for the Nintendo Wii. It was four years later when Nordic finally made a name for itself by acquiring the majority of the THQ library during it’s bankruptcy. Since it’s creation, THQ Nordic now has 84 employees, and also controls Rainbow Studios in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as Grimlore Games in Munich, Germany.

THQ Nordic will be at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany this year to show off their current projects and upcoming games. We should expect to hear about some of their new projects then.

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