Key Notes
- Black Forest Games has left THQ Nordic and Embracer through a management buyout, ending nine years under the publisher’s ownership.
- The Destroy All Humans! remake developer is part of the new independent Third Signal group, with the transaction’s financial terms undisclosed.
- Black Forest Games and THQ Nordic will keep working together on joint projects, so the ownership split also preserves a working relationship.
Black Forest Games, the German studio behind the Destroy All Humans! remakes, has left THQ Nordic and Embracer Group in a management buyout. The move ends nine years under the publisher’s ownership, while preserving a working relationship on shared projects.
GamesMarkt reported the split on November 11. Its updated report also identifies a new part of the studio’s future: Black Forest Games is helping establish Third Signal, an independent studio group formed with Third Signal Ventures.
Management Takes Back Control
GamesWirtschaft reports that the buyout runs through a new Austrian holding company called Third Signal. The studio’s management participants include managing directors Andreas Speer and Adrian Goersch, technical director Johan Conradie and art director Eric Urocki. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
Goersch told the outlet that the deal had been in preparation for some time because the group’s strategy no longer matched the studio’s direction. He thanked THQ Nordic and Embracer for their years together and described the opportunity to shape Black Forest Games’ future as owners again.
Third Signal is led by Andreas Tobler, formerly a co-founder and CEO of JoWooD and later a portfolio and business-development executive at Plaion. Its stated ambition is to build a developer-led group around experienced teams.
Nine Years After THQ Nordic’s Acquisition
THQ Nordic acquired Black Forest Games in August 2017, buying all outstanding shares from its five founders. The original announcement listed €900,000 in cash for the studio, with a potential €450,000 performance-related payment to the founders. Those were the terms of the earlier acquisition, not a disclosed price for the new buyout.
The 2017 transaction also included an asset agreement covering intellectual property such as Giana Sisters, Helldorado and Rogue Stormers. That distinction matters when following a studio’s change of ownership: the historical announcement described both a company purchase and separate game-rights acquisitions.
Founded in 2012 and based in Offenburg, Black Forest Games built a varied PC and console catalog. Its press resources list Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Rogue Stormers, Fade to Silence and the two Destroy All Humans! remakes. The first remake arrived in 2020, followed by Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed in 2022.
The THQ Nordic Partnership Continues
The ownership split does not end the companies’ collaboration. GamesMarkt reports that Black Forest Games and THQ Nordic will continue working together on joint projects. The studio can therefore sit outside the publisher’s corporate structure while retaining it as a business partner.
The change comes as Embracer continues reorganizing its wider business. We reported on its July–September results, which showed revenue rising 14% to SEK 4.13 billion and a return to operating profit. The group also said preparations to spin off Fellowship Entertainment during 2027 remained on track.
Black Forest Games’ exit is a management buyout, a separate transaction from that planned public-company split. For the studio behind Crypto’s return, the immediate change is who controls the business; its existing publishing relationships can continue beyond Embracer ownership.
