It shouldn’t come as a surprise. THQ Nordic has been buying up IP left and right in an attempt to restore the glory of the old THQ. After the acquisition of Koch Media in February the company was reunited with several popular IP lost after the old THQ went bankrupt. But they also acquired a long-forgotten studio that gamers loved during THQ’s heyday.

That studio was Dambuster. Never heard of them? Maybe you know them by their former name, Free Radical. Yes, those guys that made the TimeSplitters games.

Dambuster has been begging for an opportunity to make TimeSplitters 4 for years now, and thanks to THQ’s most recent purchase, they might get that chance. THQ announced this morning that they have acquired the rights to both of Free Radicals previous games, TimeSplitters and Second Sight. In a statement by Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz said “We are hugely excited to have acquired Timesplitters. The original games gave fans a massive content offer and provided a pure and genuinely fun arcade shooter experience. We have many fans of the Timesplitters series among our own staff who are passionate about creating a product that will thrill today’s gaming audience.”

Now that THQ owns the rights to the TimeSplitters franchise it would seem quite likely that Dambuster will get their wish. Hopefully a formal announcement will come sooner, rather than later.