Slitherine, the strategy specialist behind games like Panzer Corps 2 and Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, has announced that it has acquired the Blood Bowl video game licence, publishing rights and back catalogue from Nacon.

In case you need a reminder, Nacon is currently facing major problems. Nacon’s troubles began upstream at parent company Bigben Interactive, which failed to make a €43 million bond repayment after its banks refused refinancing. That liquidity crunch ultimately pushed Nacon into insolvency proceedings.

Several of Nacon’s subsidiaries also had to file for insolvency, namely Cyanide, Spiders, Nacon Tech and Kylotonn.

Unfortunately, Spiders was liquidated in April following the release of Greedfall 2.

Which brings us to Slitherine, who has managed to reach a deal with Nacon (and therefore presumably Games Workshop, the ultimate owners of Warhammer) to acquire the Blood Bowl game license, publishing rights and back catalogue.

“Blood Bowl is one of the most iconic and distinctive strategy franchises in videogames, and we’re genuinely honoured to help shape its future alongside Cyanide and Warhammer,” said Marco Minoli, Director of Publishing at Slitherine.

Speaking to GameIndustry.biz, Minoli clarified that they are not taking any sort of stake in Cyanide: “We aren’t taking an ownership stake in Cyanide, but we are securing a long term development deal with them. Our singular goal is to guarantee the absolute, long-term continuity of development for the game.”

“From day one, our visions for the future of Blood Bowl were perfectly aligned. We backed that up with a highly competitive commercial proposition that met their financial objectives,” Minoli told GameIndustry.biz. “There were certainly other players at the table, but we were focused entirely on our own pitch, and we’re thrilled that our shared vision won out.”

In short, Cyanide will continue to develop the upcoming Blood Bowl game. Titled Warhammer Blood Bowl, it was announced by Nacon and Cyanide earlier this year as a new adaptation based on the latest tabletop rules. It is due digitally on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC, with existing Blood Bowl 3 owners getting it for free.

The new deal means Slitherine will act as publisher instead of Nacon. There’s no word on what the future might entail should Cyanide also go under, or whether Slitherine would continue to allow Cyanide to develop future Blood Bowl games.

Speculatively, this could even be the first step toward a potential acquisition should Nacon decide to sell Cyanide in a bid to save itself. It would certainly fit in with Slitherine’s recent expansion drive. In 2024, the strategy publisher acquired Battlefront, the studio behind the long-running Combat Mission series, describing the move as part of its commitment to expanding the wargaming market in a sustainable way. Since then, the company has continued to grow its catalogue and profile, making Blood Bowl another notable addition to its strategy-heavy stable.