THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initially working in the toy business, it expanded into the video game business through several acquisitions before shifting its focus away from toys entirely. THQ continued its trend of acquiring companies throughout the 2000s.
Joe Madureira, often called Joe Mad, is an American comic book artist and game developer, best known for his work on Darksiders, Marvel Comics' Uncanny X-Men and his creator-owned comic book Battle Chasers. He is the founder of video game development companies Vigil Games and Airship Syndicate.
Battle Chasers is an American fantasy comic book series by Joe Madureira, launched in April 1998. It was characterized by scheduling problems, with an average of about six months between issues, including a delay of 16 months for issue #7. Madureira produced a total of nine issues in four years, a pace for which he was criticized, before leaving the comic industry to pursue a career as a video game designer. The cliffhanger ending of issue #9 was not resolved for over 20 years; issue #10 was originally scheduled for November 2001, put on indefinite hiatus with Madureira's exit from the industry, and returned only as abstract plans and concept drawings from 2017 to early 2023. Issue #10 was published in June 2023 and continued the plot after a two-page recap.
Rainbow Studios is an American video game developer based in Phoenix, Arizona, best known for developing offroad racing games, such as Motocross Madness and the MX vs. ATV series. It was established by Earl Jarred in 1986 under the name Rainbow Multimedia Group and rebranded as Rainbow Studios in 1992. In January 2002, the company was acquired by THQ, under the ownership of which it was renamed THQ Digital Studios Phoenix in February 2010 and closed in August 2011. The studio was re-instated as Rainbow Studios in 2013 by Nordic Games, a publishing company that had purchased most assets of the then-bankrupt THQ earlier that year. The studio is now independent.
Kaos Studios was an American video game developer based in New York City, New York. Founded in 2006, the company was most known for developing Frontlines: Fuel of War (2008) and Homefront (2011). It was a subsidiary of publisher THQ until it was shut down in June 2011.
Darksiders is an hack and slash action-adventure video game developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ. The game's inspiration is from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, with the player taking the role of the horseman War. The game was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 5, 2010, in North America, January 7 in Australia, January 8 in Europe, and March 18 in Japan. The Microsoft Windows version was released in North America and Australia on September 23, and in Europe on September 24. A parallel sequel, Darksiders II, was released on August 14, 2012.
David Adams is an American video game designer best known for his work on Darksiders and Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium. In 2014, Adams founded Gunfire Games
Darksiders II is an action role-playing hack and slash video game developed by Vigil Games and published by THQ. It is the sequel to Darksiders and was released in August 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and as a launch title for Wii U upon the console's North American and PAL regions release in November of the same year. The story follows the efforts of player character Death to clear the name of his brother, War, who stands accused of wiping out humanity. On a total budget of $50 million, it was one of the most expensive video games to develop of all time.
MX vs. ATV Alive is an off-road racing game developed by THQ Digital Studio Phoenix and published by THQ. The game is the fourth title in the MX vs. ATV series, following MX vs. ATV Reflex, and the last game in the series published by THQ. MX vs. ATV Alive was released on May 10, 2011 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was the first THQ game to be launched with a new pricing model, where the game would be sold at a lower retail price than most new releases, but with a larger amount of paid downloadable content. A later installment of the series, MX vs. ATV: All Out, also utilized a similar pricing model.
MX vs. ATV is an American racing video game franchise developed by Rainbow Studios and published by THQ Nordic that focuses on off-road racing, as a crossover between THQ's MX trilogy and Sony's ATV Offroad Fury series. Early games in the series, starting with MX vs. ATV Unleashed, were published by THQ prior to its bankruptcy and liquidation in 2013. As the name suggests, the series' main focus is racing with motocross bikes and all-terrain vehicles, although other vehicles such as dune buggies and sport trucks were also featured in the games. Players can also fly airplanes and helicopters in some of the games.
THQ Nordic GmbH is an Austrian video game publisher based in Vienna. Formed in 2011, it is a publishing subsidiary of Embracer Group. Originally named Nordic Games, as was the parent company, both companies were renamed THQ Nordic in August 2016 after the parent company had acquired the "THQ" trademark in 2014.
Crytek USA Corp. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas, and a subsidiary of Crytek. The studio was led by David Adams, who was formerly the CEO of Vigil Games; a studio that had been acquired by THQ, but was shut down as part of THQ's Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 23, 2013. Adams was personally courted by Crytek's founder Cevat Yerli due to Vigil's work on the Darksiders series, and the trust and leadership of his studio's former staff—many of whom had also joined him at the studio.
Hunt: Showdown is a first-person shooter video game by Crytek. It was launched on Steam in early access on 22 February 2018 and for Xbox Game Preview on 29 May 2019. The full release of the game launched on 27 August 2019 for Microsoft Windows, it was also released on Xbox One on 19 September 2019 and PlayStation 4 on 18 February 2020. In the game, the player assumes the role of a bounty hunter who tries to kill mythical monsters in order to claim their bounties and survive long enough against other bounty hunters to reach an extraction point.
MX vs. ATV Supercross is a racing video game developed by Rainbow Studios and published by Nordic Games for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This is the fifth game in the MX vs. ATV franchise and is the first game developed after the original creator of the franchise, Rainbow Studios, separated from their most recent publisher THQ due to bankruptcy. An updated version, known as MX vs. ATV Supercross Encore, was released in 2015 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in July 2016.
Darksiders III is a 2018 action role-playing game developed by Gunfire Games and published by THQ Nordic. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in November 2018. A Stadia version and Nintendo Switch port released in September 2021. It is the third entry in the Darksiders series.
Darksiders is a hack and slash action-adventure video game franchise created by Vigil Games, now developed by Gunfire Games, which consists of some of the original members of Vigil. The series is set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, where mankind faces near-extinction and angels fight a losing battle against the demon hordes for control over the world. Among them are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the last of the Nephilim who are tasked to bring balance to the universe.
Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a turn-based role-playing video game developed by Airship Syndicate and published by THQ Nordic. It was released in October 2017 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and in May 2018 for Nintendo Switch and Linux. Based on the Battle Chasers fantasy comic book series by Joe Madureira, the game involves the cast of that series being marooned on an island and being forced to stop the plans of an evil sorceress in order to escape.
Gunfire Games, LLC is an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. The studio was founded by David Adams in July 2014, bringing with him the core team of Crytek USA just before that studio's closure. The company was acquired by THQ Nordic in August 2019.
Airship Syndicate Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game development company based in Austin, Texas. Founded by several ex-Vigil Games staff including Joe Madureira and Ryan Stefanelli, in 2014, Airship Syndicate is most known for developing Battle Chasers: Nightwar (2017), Darksiders Genesis (2019) and Ruined King: A League of Legends Story (2021).
