Annually, THQ Nordic releases a digital digest to showcase what the year has to offer, and this year’s is packed with great new games and classic ones.
The Showcase started off with a strong pre-show that included many mobile ports that will bring fan favourites to the Play Store and the App Store. Games like Epic Mickey Rebrushed, Gothic Classic, and Rat’s Quest: The Way Back Home Season 2 will be able to grace the screens of almost all mobile gamers. The only downside is that both Epic Mickey and Rat’s Quest are only available for pre-order, and Gothic Classic is an App Store exclusive.
The official start of the THQ showcase headed off with a major player, that being Wreckfest 2. From its humble beginnings as BeamNG Drive, Wreckfest 2 is boasting an even more detailed driving simulator. The car-destruction simulator gives players a wide array of modes to play with, from races in a scrapyard to all-out wreckfests. Plus there’s the added bonus of the extremely in-depth car customization, which lets users change everything from flame decals to the spots where rust accumulates. It also just launched for early access, so there’s no need to wait to get your car conflicts fix.
A far-roaming forest, beautiful creatures, fair weather, and you, a hunter and their dog breathing it all in. Way of the Hunter 2 was up next, as a sequel to the first game; they really delivered on making the second one a step up. Nine Rocks Games went overboard with this one; the trailer shows off a day-night cycle, co-op multiplayer, rare albino animals and a lot of guns. Plus, it’s also available for pre-order right now.
Taking a step towards the medieval, The Guild – Europa 1410 lets players live out their 1500’s dreams through cities like Kuttenburg and Nuremburg. Within these cities lie the professions needed for them to function, jobs that you will have to take on yourself. From Smithing to Preaching to Thieving to Alchemy, the cities have the whole medieval experience down pat. Building the city up and finding a path to power through politics, trade, or even crime will decide how history is written. All of that and much more is available in the wishlistable The Guild – Europa 1410.
Continuing the historical beat, Call to Arms: Panzer Elite is getting a major update with a ton of new battles to fight through. From the Ardennes Offensive to Operation Lüttich, players will have to fight through cities and snow to claim victory. New vehicles like the M21 — Chaffee and the M18 — Hellcat will also be available in a pretty substantial content update, which is available right now.
Jumping over to 1600’s Japan, you arrive as a foreigner on a Dutch frigate at the tail end of the Warring States period. As you fight, sneak, and scramble to earn your place in a foreign land, you leave a trail of blood and peace in your wake. The Baldurs Gate 3-esque Expeditions: Samurai is available for early access right now.
Titan Quest 2 had its early access reveal in a previous THQ Showcase, but they are back again to show off the progress made. Starting with the new Spirit Mastery, players can summon and control named spirits like Athaneakros and lesser summons as well for a full build with multiple damage types. Crafting has also been stepped up a notch from the previous system, which is now much more in-depth, letting players reforge items for different effects and much more. The Spirit and Crafting Update is available right now as part of the early access period.
We only got to see a couple of seconds of teaser for it, but it looks like THQ’s acclaimed Road 96 is coming back to bless our screens again. The trailer showed Fanny, the soft-hearted cop of the first game, desperately trying to contact one of the resistance leaders, John, for some unknown reason before it cuts to black.
After Road 96, we got to see some absolutely beautiful animation for a 2D Metroidvania named The Eternal Life of Goldman. The gameplay looks highly similar, as it’s a mix of Hollow Knight and Silksong, but once again, the animation is just gorgeous. Following an old man who, by use of context clues, has fallen into his own drawings and sets off on an adventure through them, facing enemies and puzzles along the way. The Eternal Life of Goldman is Wishlistable now on every major platform.
Next up was a compilation showing all the THQ Nordic games that are coming to Nintendo Switch soon. Epic Mickey Rebrushed, the Sacred 2 Remaster, Spongebob Squarepants: Titans of the Tide, Destroy all Humans! Reamake and Destroy All Humans! 2 Remake will all be joining the Switch ranks soon.
We got to see a small message from the developers of Gothic Remake, mostly just saying thank you to the fans but announcing a couple of features as well. Photo Mode, Marvin Mode, Alternative Progression, and a Mod Kit were all announced with the promise of a new game reveal at next year’s THQ Nordic showcase as well. And as a side note, the original Gothic trilogy will be coming to consoles too, with Gothic already being available, Gothic 2 is coming on September 9th, and 3 is coming on November 24th.
Gothic fans really are getting their pick of the litter for this year’s THQ Showcase, starting with the remake that came out in June, and now they get a board game as well. Gothic: A Shadow’s Quest has been announced, featuring a scale map of the Valley of Mines and figures to roleplay with; Gothic can now be enjoyed by the whole family. Its Gamefound campaign starts on September 30th, 2026.
Tarsier Studios has delivered once again with a chilling trailer for the DLC of REANIMAL, REANIMAL: The Prisoner. Trying to escape the past looks to be the main theme of this DLC, but aside from that, the trailer was pretty vague. Which is a good thing because the DLC is available to play right now for anyone who wants to unravel the mystery.
All in all, this year’s THQ Showcase was pretty packed; at the end, they teased that they have 29 games in development, with 12 of those remaining unannounced. A lot of content was made available for day-one play today, though, so make sure to go enjoy it.
