Black Forest Games leaves THQ Nordic to launch Third Signal

Black Forest Games has left THQ Nordic after a management buyout and become the founding studio of Third Signal, a new independent game-development group. The studio’s management team will co-own the group alongside Third Signal Ventures. Black Forest Games had been part of THQ Nordic, within Embracer Group, since 2017.

The split changes who owns the studio, but it does not end the companies’ working relationship. Black Forest Games and THQ Nordic say they will continue collaborating on game-development work. The studio will also keep developing and publishing games under its own label.

An ownership change, not a clean break

The buyout gives Black Forest Games’ leadership a direct stake in its future. The studio’s CEOs, Adrian Goersch and Andreas Speer, are also co-founders of Third Signal Studios. The announcement does not disclose the buyout’s financial terms or whether any existing projects or intellectual property changed hands.

Third Signal describes itself as a group for making premium PC and console games. Black Forest Games is its first named member, and the group says it wants to give development teams greater independence and creative freedom. It has not announced other studios joining the organization or explained how it plans to fund future projects.

The continued collaboration with THQ Nordic leaves room for existing partnerships to carry on under the new arrangement. Neither company has identified which projects they will work on together, so the practical effect of the separation will become clearer as the studio announces its next games.

Black Forest’s next project is still under wraps

Founded in 2012 in Offenburg, Germany, Black Forest Games is known for the Destroy All Humans! remakes, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams and Fade to Silence. Its portfolio spans action, platforming and survival games, but the studio has not said what it will make under Third Signal.

Its leadership has referred to an exciting new project, without naming it or giving a release window. For now, the announcement establishes a new ownership structure and a new group around the studio. Third Signal’s ambitions will depend on what it builds next and whether it adds other teams.