Hitman and Expeditions: Rome devs form new studio Campfire Cabal within THQ Nordic
Campfire Cabal is a new studio formed by industry veterans who have worked on series like Hitman and Expeditions. The team will be part of Embracer Group through its subsidiary THQ Nordic.
THQ Nordic announced the formation of Campfire Cabal on September 13. The Denmark-based studio will operate independently as a subsidiary of THQ Nordic, which itself is a part of Swedish holding company Embracer Group.
Campfire Cabal will focus on making narrative-driven RPGs. Right now, it is working on its debut game, which is yet to be announced.
Who is at the helm of Campfire Cabal?
The new studio is led by creative director Jonas Waever, who previously worked at Expeditions: Rome developer Logic Artists for over 10 years.
Other team members include (via LinkedIn):
- Art director Caroline Fangel, who held the same position at PortaPlay, a studio behind Gerda: A Flame in Winter;
- Technical director Nils Iver Holtar, who previously worked at IO Interactive and Logic Artists;
- Senior game designer Casper Falck Hansen, who was a game designer at Amplitude Studios (Endless Space 2) and system designer at Logic Artists;
- Narrative designer Fasih Sayin, who worked on Warface at Crytek and was in charge of the company’s publishing operations in Turkey and MENA.
What is THQ Nordic’s role in Embracer Group?
The Austrian publisher is one of 12 operative groups within Embracer Group. The other divisions include Saber Interactive, Plaion (formerly Koch Media), Coffee Stain, Gearbox, and the new unnamed group formed after the acquisition of Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal.
THQ Nordic’s main focus is PC and console games. It has dozens of games in its publishing portfolio, ranging from Desperados and Jagged Alliance to the upcoming remakes of Gothic and Alone in the Dark.
The company also owns over 20 internal studios, including Gunfire Games (Darksiders, Remnant: From the Ashes), Piranha Bytes (Gothic and ELEX series), Purple Lamp (SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom — Rehydrated), and Black Forest Games (Destroy All Humans! remakes).