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[Update] Nordic Games Reveals Darksiders And Red Faction Collections
Update: Nordic Games has given us the details on the upcoming Red Faction and Darksiders collections. They are expected to release sometime in the second quarter (April - June).
The Darksiders Collection will be priced at $39.99 in the United States and is planned for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. The Red Faction Collection will be $29.99 and will be coming to PlayStation 3 and PC only. "This is because according to Microsoft, the Collection did not comply with some of their guidelines for such a pack," a Nordic Games representative told us. More details will be revealed closer to the launch dates for the two products.
Original Story:
When THQ’s properties were auctioned off, there were a number of surprises. Perhaps the largest was Nordic Games swooping in and acquiring most of the company’s back catalog for $4.9 million, including the popular Red Faction and Darksiders franchises.
Immediately following the announcement, we spoke with Nordic Games CEO Lars Wingefors about the acquisition (and specifically plans for Darksiders and Red Faction). That conversation was followed up with an interview at Gamescom 2013 with business and development director Reinhard Pollice, who told us that “great games don’t need a big budget.”
While fans won’t be getting the conclusion to the Darksiders story or a new Red Faction installment any time soon, Nordic appears ready to offer the existing games in those series in bundles. Darksiders Complete and Red Faction Complete are slated for March 14 on PC.
The Darksiders bundle includes the two games and all DLC. The Red Faction package includes the series four main games and Red Faction Armageddon’s Path to War DLC.
There are also console versions planned for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The Darksiders Collection language is a bit different. Instead of “all DLC,” the console versions will include the season pass. The Red Faction Collection will not include Red Faction 2. Red Faction was never made backward compatible on the Xbox 360, though Red Faction II was. How Red Faction will be handled on these platforms isn't clear yet.
Additionally, while the PC versions list ratings on the Nordic Games website, they have not actually been rated by the ESRB. New products, such as the recently announced God of War Collection for Vita must be rated separately as different content is bundled together. The console versions do not include ESRB marks on the company’s website.
We’ve reached out to Nordic Games for additional details. Should we learn more about price and timing (the PC versions are currently listed for a March 14 European release), we’ll update.
[Source: Nordic Games via Joystiq]
Our Take
I’d like to believe that this is a signal that more Darksiders will be coming. I really don’t, though. I don’t expect that Nordic is prepared to put the kind of money behind the series it would need in order to live up to the THQ installments. I also don’t expect another Red Faction game, as the series ran its course. This is more than likely a way to monetize the auction acquisitions and nothing more.
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