Black Forest Games Buys Itself Out From THQ Nordic and Founds Third Signal

Black Forest Games is now fully independent. The studio has bought itself out from its owner, THQ Nordic, in a management buyout, according to Video Games Chronicle, which reported the news on 12 November 2026.

A management buyout means the company's own leaders take ownership from the business that held it. THQ Nordic had owned Black Forest since 2017. The studio is best known for its remakes of Destroy All Humans and Destroy All Humans 2, the comedy action games about an alien invader.

Alongside the buyout, the studio has founded a new group called Third Signal. Black Forest Games is its founding member. Its management team has become a co-owner of Third Signal, which is set up as a group of independent studios.

Third Signal plans to make premium games for PC and console. Premium games are sold up front, at a set price, rather than free to play. Adrian Goersch is chief executive of Black Forest Games and a co-founder of Third Signal.

The report also covers Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin. Development of that game at Black Forest Games has stopped. A new version of the game is now in development at PlatinumGames, the Japanese studio known for action games.

For players, the most visible change is who owns the studio and what it plans to make next. Black Forest Games keeps its name and its staff's work on the remakes. The new group gives its members a separate structure for future projects. No details of the buyout's financial terms or of Third Signal's first titles have been announced.