THQ Nordic Picks Up the Rights to Another Classic Franchise
The mid-tier publisher grabs Outcast.
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Publisher THQ Nordic announced today that it has acquired the rights to Outcast. The original title was developed by Belgian developer Appeal for release way back in 1999. It made a small splash on PC at the time, but gained favorable reviews for being one of the first open-world action adventure games.
Players took on the role of Cutter Slade, a U.S. Navy SEAL sent on a mission through a black hole—no, it doesn't kill him—dropping him into an alien world. Cutter has to complete his mission, close the black hole, and survive in the hostile environment. Outcast featured open-ended play and an extensive reputation system with the local Talan aliens.
There was a planned sequel to Outcast, Outcast II: The Lost Paradise, but it died when the developer went bankrupt. A remake and remaster of the original game were developed much later. The remaster came out in 2014 as Outcast 1.1, while the remake was released in 2017 as Outcast: Second Contact. There's no word on a new Outcast project yet.
This joins a long line of THQ Nordic acquisitions. The Austrian publisher has picked up a host of classic franchises, including Carmageddon, Alone in the Dark, TimeSplitters, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Impossible Creatures, Jagged Alliance, Summoner, Red Faction, Darksiders, and more. The full list of THQ Nordic purchases is frankly stunning.