What just happened? Alone in the Dark, the 1992 PC title considered to be the grandfather of 3D survival horror games such as Resident Evil, has just had its IP rights purchased by THQ Nordic. Additionally, the video game publisher has acquired the intellectual property rights for Act of War, which also comes from Atari Europe.
With its 3D characters, jump scares, and tank controls, the first Alone in the Dark game paved the way for the survival horror genre. There were three main entries in the series released between 1992 and 1994. A reboot arrive in 2001 that received above average reviews, while a 2008 reboot, which I recall was pretty bad, got panned by critics and users alike.
Another AitD game launched in 2015, this one called Alone in the Dark: Illumination. One of the four-player action title's Steam user comments, which are mostly negative, reads: "How could anyone sell something like this? This needs to be removed from steam and existence," giving you an idea of its quality. But it couldn't have been worse than the Uwe Boll movie of the same name.
Hopefully, THQ Nordic will be able to do justice to the Alone in the Dark name with a quality reboot or remake. The same goes for Act of War, an RTS set in the near-future that received some excellent reviews when released in 2005. The 2015 follow-up, Act of Aggression, had a mixed reception.
It seems THQ Nordic is addicted to buying IPs right now. Earlier this month, it purchased Kingdoms of Amalur, and in August grabbed the rights to Timesplitters and Second Sight. In February, it acquired Koch Media (along with its video publishing division, Deep Silver) for $151 million, bringing Saints Row, Dead Island, Kingdom Come Deliverance, and the upcoming Shenmue 3 under the company's banner.