Destroy All Humans! remake developer goes independent, splits from THQ Nordic and Embracer Group
Black Forest Games, the developer responsible for the remakes of the first two Destroy All Humans! titles, has officially spun off from its former owners, THQ Nordic and parent company Embracer Group. The studio secured its independence through a management buyout and has immediately moved to establish a new entity called Third Signal.
Third Signal is described as a new group of independent studios designed to provide resources and support to other indie teams. According to Andreas Tobler, CEO of Third Signal, the move is driven by a vision to foster developer-led growth. Tobler emphasized that some of the most successful games of the last decade were produced by smaller teams of around 50 people rather than massive corporations, and positioned Black Forest Games as the ideal foundation for this new collective. The goal, he stated, is to grant teams the creative freedom and independence necessary to pursue their own ideas and continue their creative legacies.
The departure marks a significant shift for Black Forest Games, which was one of Embracer Group's earliest high-profile acquisitions nearly a decade ago. This acquisition occurred long before Embracer's period of rapid expansion—which included titles like Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance—and the subsequent large-scale restructuring in 2024, which saw the sale of Gearbox and the Borderlands franchise.
While the studio has achieved independence, it is currently unclear whether Black Forest Games retains the rights to the Destroy All Humans! series or its protagonist, Crypto. However, the developers have confirmed they will continue to work with THQ Nordic in some capacity. While the future of the franchise remains to be seen, the studio's new structure suggests a focus on maintaining the creative autonomy that defined their recent work on the series.
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