Two Double Fine games finally come home

Two of Double Fine's video game children have come home after a long, drawn-out absence. The independent studio said today it has reacquired the rights to two Double Fine-developed games -- Costume Quest and Stacking -- from publisher Nordic Games. The two digital download games were originally published by THQ - Costume Quest in 2010, Stacking in 2011. THQ held the rights to those games, but when the publisher filed for bankruptcy and had to auction off its properties, Double Fine was unable to acquire the rights. Nordic Games, on the other hand, was able to acquire the two titles, along with other former THQ properties including Darksiders and Red Faction. Now, Nordic has struck a deal with the studio to grant full rights for Costume Quest and Stacking to Double Fine, at the same time partnering to bring retail versions of the digital-only games to North America and Europe on Mac and Windows in first-half 2014, along with a new retail release of Double Fine's Psychonauts on the same platforms. The canned commentary in the press release is good enough to reproduce here, so here you go: Tim Schafer, CEO Double Fine: "I am pleased that we have regained full control over Costume Quest and Stacking, following a daring and top-secret midnight raid on the Nordic Games headquarters in Vienna." Lars Wingefors, CEO of Nordic Game: "I feel compelled to point out that we were happy to transfer distribution rights for Costume Quest and Stacking back to Double Fine in an entirely non-secretive and heist-free manner." Justin Baily, VP of business development, Double Fine: "Double Fine is dedicated to controlling its own IP, and we will continue working to bring all associated rights back in-house whenever possible, no matter how many split-second security system hacks or painstaking tunneling operations we have to execute." Klemens Kreuzer, managing director, Nordic Games: "I just want to clarify, again, that we support the right of independent developers to control their own distribution, and we were pleased to have the opportunity to work with Double Fine. No heists."