THQ Nordic Issues Further Apology For 8Chan Controversy

THQ Nordic's parent company has issued another apology for the publisher's decision to hold an 'ask me anything' session on infamous message board 8chan last week. The website is known for hosting threads relating to subjects such as child pornography and white supremacy, so THQ Nordic's AMA there drew criticism from across the industry.

"This letter is to offer my sincerest apologies and regret for THQ Nordic GmbH Vienna's interaction with the controversial website 8chan last Tuesday, February 26," said the company's group CEO, Lars Wingefors. "I condemn all unethical content this website stands for. Even if no one within the THQ Nordic Group would ever endorse such content, I realize simply appearing there gave an implicit impression that we did.

"As co-founder and group CEO of [parent company] THQ Nordic AB, I take full responsibility for all of THQ Nordic GmbH's actions and communications. I have spent the past several days conducting an internal investigation into this matter. I assure you that every member of the organization has learned from this past week's events. I take this matter very seriously and we will take appropriate action to make sure we have the right policies and systems in place to avoid similar mistakes in the future."

The statement follows an earlier apology from the company's PR and marketing director, Philipp Brock, during which he was forced to say he "does not condone child pornography, white supremacy, or racism in any shape or form."

THQ Nordic first announced the AMA in a tweet, saying "we're doing an 8chan AMA and we have no idea why. Come join us!" After industry figures criticized the company for this move, it then replied to its initial tweet and stated "the opportunity was here and we took it, we got apporached [sic] in a very friendly and polite manner and were assured, said person (shoutout to Mark) will take care of the nasty stuff. So, here we are." The tweets have since been deleted.

8chan content was blocked from appearing in Google searches in 2015. Google also warned 8chan contains "suspected child abuse content." Since then, 8chan has become embroiled in various controversies surrounding gamergate, swatting, racism, and white supremacism.

THQ Nordic was formed in 2011 after Nordic Games acquired much of the intellectual property of the now-defunct publisher THQ. More recently it has acquired Goat Simulator developer Coffee Stain, the TimeSplitters series, and the Alone in the Dark and Act of War franchises.