THQ going under?

[hippie_hunter]

A rumor spreading fast via Twitter on Sunday holds that THQ has canceled its entire 2014 slate of releases to position the company for sale.

Kevin Dent, a games industry veteran, tweeted late yesterday that THQ had canceled an MMO it was developing under license from The Games Workshop, meaning Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium Online (pictured above). Dent went on to say that the publisher had also canceled all projects due for release in 2014 and was in the process of returning intellectual property to their licensors.


The purpose, Dent alleges, is to ready THQ for sale. "I am hearing everything (in 2014 is canceled), they need to preserve cash," he said. Dent noted THQ's stock price is around 66 cents; it was about $6 this time last year.


Games THQ publishes under license include the Warhammer 40,000 series as well as the WWE and UFC lines, both of which are under exclusive license. Other games THQ publishes include the Red Faction and Saints Row series. In October 2010, it opened a studio in Montréal, luring away Patrice Désilets from Ubisoft, where he had been creative director of Assassin's Creed.


Kotaku has contacted THQ representatives for comment. Any they make will be updated here.

http://kotaku.com/5876253/thq-wipes-out-games-planned-for-2014-to-ready-itself-for-sale-says-insider

 

[socool]

Can't say I'm surprised. THQ has always been such a low-level publisher in my eyes. Nothing they ever make attracts me.

 

[Soapy]

Vigil :[
Volition :[

Hopefully all the good studios and IPs get bought up intact by publishers who have some financial sense.

I could see WB, Zenimax, Capcom, and maybe Square going after the better studios.

Warner has done a good job of making themselves a player in the game industry, but they need more IPs.

Zenimax has been snatching up stray studios left and right.

Capcom has a raging hard on for western developers they might see this as an opportunity to make their own western branch.

And Eidos has been a good "get" for Square, they may want to try and repeat that.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Personally I think THQ has published some dam great games.

 

[Soapy]

They really have.

 

[socool]

Wow. A bunch of games I actually like got made by them that I didn't even know they made. I take back my last statement...still not too surprised though.

 

[Soapy]

Yeah, you could see this coming a mile away.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Vigil :[
Volition :[

After the complete and utter failure of both of Volition's games in 2011, I was surprised that THQ didn't close down the studio.

Hopefully all the good studios and IPs get bought up intact by publishers who have some financial sense.

I could see WB, Zenimax, Capcom, and maybe Square going after the better studios.

THQ probably would get more money if they just sold themselves off piece by piece as opposed to a whole.

Warner has done a good job of making themselves a player in the game industry, but they need more IPs.

Lord of the Rings, Batman, F.E.A.R., Mortal Kombat, Game Party, Scribblenauts, and LEGO has put Warner Bros in a pretty damn good position. Plus they have plenty of Midway IPs that they can mine like Spy Hunter, the Suffering, Area 51, Rampage, Rush, and so on.

Capcom has a raging hard on for western developers they might see this as an opportunity to make their own western branch.

I can definitely see that possibility.

And Eidos has been a good "get" for Square, they may want to try and repeat that.

Very true. I think that THQ would be a very good get for Square-Enix and Capcom.

 

[StrainedEyes]

Outside of Saints Row, they are affiliated with nothing I care about.

 

[Soapy]

After the complete and utter failure of both of Volition's games in 2011, I was surprised that THQ didn't close down the studio.

Saints Row was a failure? Says who?

THQ probably would get more money if they just sold themselves off piece by piece as opposed to a whole.

Yeah, that's kind of what I was getting at. No way anyone is going to swoop in and buy the whole thing. But the more stable publishers are definitely going to be picking at the carcass and fighting over scraps.

Lord of the Rings, Batman, F.E.A.R., Mortal Kombat, Game Party, Scribblenauts, and LEGO has put Warner Bros in a pretty damn good position. Plus they have plenty of Midway IPs that they can mine like Spy Hunter, the Suffering, Area 51, Rampage, Rush, and so on.

Eh, I forgot about Midway, and I had no idea they published the Lego games, but even so, WB only realistically has two or three really bankable franchises they can depend on: Batman, Mortal Kombat, and apparently Lego. I leave out Lord of the Rings because I feel there's a lot of LoTR fatigue out there. The Hobbit might rejuvenate the franchise, but at this point in time, it's no Batman. Anyway, my point was they could really expand their AAA lineup with titles like Saints Row and Darksiders, or even make inroads into the PC market with Metro and Warhammer.

 

[TheBat812]

i'm not surprised. They cancelled the DLC plans early for MX vs ATV Alive even though it was a game sold on the promise of a lot of DLC content. Huge bummer for many of us fans. A whole mode we were all waiting for that I'm sure was nearly complete was cancelled and sitting on their computers. Good riddance. **** THQ.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

Outside of Saints Row, they are affiliated with nothing I care about.

Agreed.

I'm not surprised at all by this.

 

[Electro UK]

Yeah, you could see this coming a mile away.

Mhmm. Me and my friends have been saying for a while now that this news would be coming round about this time.

I'm a big Red Faction fan, but little else of theirs interests me. They've always felt like a 'me too' publisher to me.

But that's not to say I don't think this is a damn shame. Just the idea of a publisher as big as them going under is not a healthy sign for the industry whatsoever.

Their 2011 line-up needed inspiration though, from my perspective. I'm not a Warhammer fan, the most recent Red Faction decided to abandon everything that made the series unique, Homefront you just always knew was going to be a ho-hum CoD wannabe, and I'm not a fan of Saints Row 3's style. I don't see anything in there that keeps my attention.

Also, I REALLY hope this doesn't hurt De Toro's inSane

 

[Soapy]

Maybe the WWE license will go to someone who actually knows a thing or two about making good video games.

 

[Havok83]

off the top of my head the only series that jumps to me is WWE. Im gonna have to go to Wikipedia to find out what other games they make bc Im drawing a blank

 

[TX85]

I personally still enjoy the WWE&UFC games and I love Saints The Third But overall I would have to agree that they have been lacking in true effort in ALL of their game catalogs in recent years,And as a company/game professionals their pretty ****** and their marketing teams are among the worst I've seen for the last couple of years!!

I could see EA Sports taking over UFC(although Dana White may still have problems with them)While EA takes Warhammer and maybe Saints and WWE!

Maybe Rockstar would be interested in Saints and that could be very interesting!

 

[hippie_hunter]

Saints Row was a failure? Says who?

Says the sales. Saints Row the Third sales weren't that great due to pushing it in the absurdly competitive Q4 timeframe for the holidays. This year when everyone was paying attention to Call of Duty, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted 3, Just Dance, Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Super Mario 3D Land, and whatnot, Saints Row the Third just kinda got forgotten. Especially since Saints Row the Third just doesn't have the marketing heft that Electronic Arts, Activision, Ubisoft, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have.

Saints Row the Third's sales would have been much better if they pushed it into the Q1 2012 timeframe and if THQ just had the marketing heft that its competitors had. I don't see the series as doomed, it has a lot of potential, but only if it were under a different publisher.

I think it would be very wise for Activision to take it up. They need to branch outside of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft and they have the heft (i.e. money) to allow Volition to take the series to its full potential.

Eh, I forgot about Midway, and I had no idea they published the Lego games, but even so, WB only realistically has two or three really bankable franchises they can depend on: Batman, Mortal Kombat, and apparently Lego. I leave out Lord of the Rings because I feel there's a lot of LoTR fatigue out there. The Hobbit might rejuvenate the franchise, but at this point in time, it's no Batman.

Warner Bros. makes a lot of money off of Lord of the Rings Online.

Anyway, my point was they could really expand their AAA lineup with titles like Saints Row and Darksiders, or even make inroads into the PC market with Metro and Warhammer.

I think that Warner Bros. would rather make smaller acquisitions for the time being. Atari for example would be really cheap and give Warner Bros. full control of the Atari games that they own through their acquisition of Midway. These games are dying to be revived through smartphone apps and Facebook.

I think they're fine in regards to AAA console gaming. I think that WB should expand outside the box like what EA did with their acquisition of PopCap. Smaller titles is where the industry is headed to right now and Warner Bros. needs to get into that game.

 

[Soapy]

Oh god no. Keep EA as far away from Saints Row (and Darksiders) as possible. Rockstar too.

Though...who wants to bet if EA does acquire one of the studios they'll rename it Bioware "Something"?

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Oh god no. Keep EA as far away from Saints Row (and Darksiders) as possible. Rockstar too.

Though...who wants to bet if EA does acquire one of the studios they'll rename it Bioware "Something"?

With 300 pre-order bonuses.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Out of the 75 plus games i own, 2 of them are THQ with one of those being F1 2011 and that wasn't even a full THQ published game. I believe they only published it here in the states. The other is that new WWF game. I dont know s**t about wrestling or wrestling games but i found the game to be pretty fun.

 

[Nathan]

Oh, fudge. What's gonna happen to all those Warhammer 40K games?

 

[Soapy]

Apparently THQ responded and said they haven't canceled any 2014 games. They were kind of vague about the fate of their 40K MMO though.

Still, I bet there's some kernal of truth in all this. But I sure hope it isn't as bad as these rumors.

 

[cherokeesam]

Says the sales. Saints Row the Third sales weren't that great due to pushing it in the absurdly competitive Q4 timeframe for the holidays. This year when everyone was paying attention to Call of Duty, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted 3, Just Dance, Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City, Super Mario 3D Land, and whatnot, Saints Row the Third just kinda got forgotten. Especially since Saints Row the Third just doesn't have the marketing heft that Electronic Arts, Activision, Ubisoft, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have.

Saints Row the Third's sales would have been much better if they pushed it into the Q1 2012 timeframe and if THQ just had the marketing heft that its competitors had. I don't see the series as doomed, it has a lot of potential, but only if it were under a different publisher.

From Wikiworld:

On November 2, 2011, THQ CEO Brian Farrell announced that Saints Row: The Third is already the most pre-ordered title in series history. In fact, the game has four times the number of pre-orders Saints Row 2 had two weeks before its launch. THQ estimates the game will ship over 3 million units before the publisher's fiscal year ends in March 2012. By comparison, Saints Row 2 launched in October 2008 and sold 2.6 million by the end of the fiscal year.Saints Row: The Third debuted at fourth place at the UK video game sales chart in its first week, beating the week one sales of Saints Row 2 by 93 percent.

Sure, SR3 could have done better, but there's *nothing* out there indicating it's slow in sales. Volition is already at work on SR4, and a platinum edition of SR3 is coming soon for the 360.

 

[hippie_hunter]

But a publisher like THQ needs big games like Homefront, Saints Row the Third, and Red Faction to do better, especially considering the budgets that go into those titles.

 

[TheVileOne]

It's too bad. I generally like THQ games and found they had a good library.

I hope Darksiders will be able to continue elsewhere if THQ does go under. I'm a big fan of that franchise and I'm looking forward to the sequel.