Nordic Games hands back rights to Costume Quest and Stacking to Double Fine

Nordic Games has announced Double Fine has acquire the publishing and distribution rights for Costume Quest and Stacking after the former picked them up in the THQ sale.

According to the press release, Nordic and Double Fine have also entered into an agreement which will see retail versions of Psychonauts, Costume Quest and Stacking for Windows and Mac published by Nordic in North America and Europe during the first half of 2014.

"I just want to clarify, again, that we support the right of independent developers to control their own distribution, and we were pleased to have the opportunity to work with Double Fine," said Klemens Kreuzer, Managing Director at Nordic Games. "No heists."

"I am pleased that we have regained full control over Costume Quest and Stacking, following a daring and top-secret midnight raid on the Nordic Games headquarters in Vienna," said Double Fine president and CEO Tim Schafer.

"We can't wait to partner with Double Fine for this upcoming retail launch of three of its most excellent games," said Lars Wingefors, owner and CEO of Nordic Games. "However, I feel compelled to point out that we were happy to transfer distribution rights for Costume Quest and Stacking back to Double Fine in an entirely non-secretive and heist-free manner."

"Double Fine is dedicated to controlling its own IP, and we will continue working to bring all associated rights back in-house whenever possible," said Double Fine business development VP Justin Bailey, "no matter how many split-second security system hacks or painstaking tunneling operations we have to execute."

Psychonauts was released at retail in 2005, but has only been available through digital distribution in recent years.

The upcoming retail launch will mark the first time Costume Quest and Stacking have been available as physical releases.