UPDATE: More intellectual property sale news is coming out of the THQ auction. THQ has announced that Nordic Games Publishing, a little-known Austrian Swedish publisher, has taken control of the bulk of the available auction lot, including Red Faction, MX vs. ATV, Destroy All Humans!, and Darksiders, which was the subject of much discussion following its non-inclusion in the first round of bidding. In total, Nordic paid $4.9 million for its bids.

We also now know that Gearbox paid $1.35 million for its purchase of the Homeworld franchise (which is detailed in the story below), and that 505 Games snuck in to grab the Drawn to Life series for $300,000. All these bids will presumably be finalized when the bankruptcy court reconvenes on May 13.

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Homeworld is headed to Gearbox, provided the court approves the sale next month.

I don't think anyone saw this one coming.

Gearbox Software, the development studio behind the Borderlands series, has taken control of the Homeworld franchise. The news comes in a statement from the company, where it states that Gearbox placed the highest bid in the latest auction featuring now defunct publisher THQ's former intellectual properties.

The high bid gives Gearbox control of both of the previous games in the Homeworld franchise, as well as full rights to make new games in the series. All of this is provided the court approves the sale next month, when it is scheduled to review all the high bids.

The Homeworld games were space-faring real-time strategy games developed by Relic Entertainment, which was itself bought by Sega in the first round of THQ property auctions. According to the statement, Gearbox's first priority with the series is "to preserve and assemble the purest form of the original acclaimed and beloved games, Homeworld and Homeworld 2, with the intent of making them accessible on today's leading digital platforms."

As for new entries in the series, the statement goes on to suggest that fans take to Gearbox's forums to suggest what they'd like to see, as well as to "please try to get our attention if you have capability and interest to join the effort in developing or enabling Homeworld's future."