THQ files for bankruptcy

[cdj]

GameSpot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/thq-files-for-bankruptcy-6401772):

Beleaguered Saints Row publisher THQ has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company announced today. It has entered into an asset purchase agreement with a bidder to acquire "substantially all of the assets of THQ's operating business." This includes the company's four wholly-owned studios and games in development.


"The sale will allow THQ to shed certain legacy obligations and emerge with the strong financial backing of a new owner with substantial experience in software and technology," the company said in a statement.

***

Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5969846/thq-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy):

The publisher behind games like Saints Row and Homefront has filed for bankruptcy.

THQ is going to Chapter 11, the company said in a press release today. They'll continue to operate as normal—in other words, all future games will continue as planned—as they go through the bankruptcy process.

"The sale and filing are necessary next steps to complete THQ's transformation and position the company for the future, as we remain confident in our existing pipeline of games, the strength of our studios and THQ's deep bench of talent," CEO Brian Farrell said in the press release.

"We are grateful to our outstanding team of employees, partners and suppliers who have worked with us through this transition. We are pleased to have attracted a strong financial partner for our business, and we hope to complete the sale swiftly to make the process as seamless as possible."

THQ emphasized that this bankruptcy will not affect any of the games they currently have in production, a library that includes Metro: Last Light, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and Homefront II.

"All of the company's studios remain open, and all development teams continue," the press release reads. "The company remains confident in its existing pipeline of games."

[JBHuskers]

Shocker.

[morsdraconis]

Ah, so the Humble Bundle sale was a cash grab for their shareholders. Makes sense.

[JBHuskers]

Ah, so the Humble Bundle sale was a cash grab for their shareholders. Makes sense.

:nod: that's why my shares of the purchase went to Humble and charity.

[oweb26]

Ah, so the Humble Bundle sale was a cash grab for their shareholders. Makes sense.

I am a shareholder....:)

I bought it cheap so no biggie.

[morsdraconis]

:nod: that's why my shares of the purchase went to Humble and charity.

Yup. Fuck THQ. They make shitty games anyway.

[oweb26]

Yup. Fuck THQ. They make shitty games anyway.

I cannot agree with this statement.

[skipwondah33]

Can't say that I played many, if any of their games recently

[souljahbill]

Saints Row the Third was EASILY a GotY candidate last year. Better than any GTA game.

[JeffHCross]

I never wish a company to go under (mainly for the sake of their employees), but THQ has just never seemed to figure it out. They had a few properties and studios that did well, but so many other titles that bombed.

[NatureBoy]

Figures. They finally get around to making a decent WWE game this year and then go belly up.

[JeffHCross]

Figures. They finally get around to making a decent WWE game this year and then go belly up.According to Pasta Padre, they still owe WWE $45 million.

[JBHuskers]

According to Pasta Padre, they still owe WWE $45 million.

No wonder I didn't go to the community day this year :D

[NatureBoy]

WWE RESPONDS TO THQ FILING.

STAMFORD, Conn., December 20, 2012 – WWE (NYSE:WWE) is listed in THQ, Inc.’s recent bankruptcy filing as an unsecured creditor holding a claim of approximately $45 million reflecting the entirety of the existing multi-year agreement. Any impairment of a current THQ account receivable would be immaterial to WWE's financial statements. Even if the impact of THQ’s bankruptcy were detrimental to WWE, the Company does not believe that the ultimate economic impact for financial statement purposes would materially and adversely affect the results of operations or financial position of WWE in light of the strength of the WWE brand and the historical performance of WWE's video game business.

http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2012/2012_12_20-.jsp

[cdj]

OS has tweeted the following:

- In just over a week, the WWE License will be one among many up for auction and it'll likely find a new home.
- Definitely would appear EA is the preverbal favorite to end up with the license. They've done site visits to THQ scouting various properties

[oweb26]

All I care about is Saints Row!!!!

[JeffHCross]

EA plus WWE sounds horrible to me. Mostly because I still haven't gotten the shit taste of WCW Mayhem out of my mouth.

[JBHuskers]

Metro, other THQ games unavailable for Impulse pre-order due to 'uncertainty of delivery' (http://www.joystiq.com/2013/01/18/metro-other-thq-games-unavailable-for-impulse-pre-order-due-to/)


Pre-orders of the PC download version of Metro: Last Light have been removed from Impulse, GameStop's PC download service. In addition, no other upcoming THQ games are available from the service, though released games can still be purchased.

"Essentially, due to THQ's current financial situation and uncertainty of delivery, in order to protect our consumers we removed the ability to pre-purchase that specific game," GameStop vice president of public and investor relations Matt Hodges told GameSpot, referring to Metro.

Bids for the now bankrupt THQ's assets are due January 22. Either the company will be purchased outright, or its assets will be auctioned starting January 23.

Pre-orders of physical versions of Metro and other THQ games, for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, remain active on GameStop.com. The removal currently only applies to PC downloads.

[cdj]

- There are rumors that EA acquired the WWE license last week.

- Sega has purchased whatever studio THQ owned in Vancouver (https://twitter.com/kyleberndt/status/294166753599164416).


Some are saying more details should be known in approximately an hour.

[cdj]

Strong rumors that Vigil Games staff has been laid off (Darksiders) following acquisition of IPs.

EDIT - Now I am seeing the IPs were NOT picked up.

[cdj]

SEGA has reportedly acquired Relic, developer of Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War.

Koch Media (owner of Dead Island publisher Deep Silver) has reportedly agreed to purchase Saints Row developer Volition as well as the publishing rights to the Metro franchise.

Crytek, who is currently developing Homefront 2, has reportedly purchased the rights to the Homefront franchise.

Take-Two (parent company of 2K and Rockstar) has reportedly agreed to purchase Darksiders studio Vigil as well as Turtle Rock Studios’ project codenamed Evolve.

Ubisoft has reportedly purchased the rights to publish South Park: The Stick of Truth (pending any further objections from South Park Studios) as well as THQ Montreal, the current developer of Assassin’s Creed creator Patrice Desilets’ project codenamed 1666.

Many THQ employees, meanwhile, have reportedly lost their jobs based on early reports on Twitter.

Link from IGN (http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/23/thq-dissolved-saints-row-company-of-heroes-darksiders-devs-acquired?utm_campaign=ign+main+twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social)

[JBHuskers]

Curious to see if WWE will have to take a year off or what will happen.

[cdj]

THQ auction results: 26M for Relic (Sega), 2.5M for Montreal (Ubisoft), 11M for Evolve (Take-Two), 22.3M for Volition (Koch Media), 500k for Homeland (Crytek), 5.8M for Metro (Koch Media), South Park for 3.2M (Ubisoft)

Source (http://twitter.com/DDInvesting)

[morsdraconis]

Wow. Sega paid WAY too much for the Warhammer and CoH franchises. Those games are so low key releases, I can't see them being worth that much.

[cdj]

Most of the rumor mill seems to think EA has picked up WWE license, but supposedly Wrestling Observer is saying 2K did. (Haven't seen a link to said WO article.)

[JBHuskers]

Trusting wrestling news websites is like flipping a coin.

[cdj]

The era of THQ wrestling games is over. Sources have indicated to IGN that the WWE game franchise will be sold to Take Two, parent company of 2K. Terms of the sale are unknown at this time, as details have not been finalized. These negotiations appear to have taken place outside THQ's formal auction process.

This news comes as THQ assets have been divided among several different publishers, pending court approval.

For more on WWE games, and THQ's future, stay tuned to IGN - official announcements are expected as soon as tomorrow.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/23/wwe-video-game-license-to-be-acquired-by-take-two

[JBHuskers]

Uggggggggggh

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[JeffHCross]

Wow. Sega paid WAY too much for the Warhammer and CoH franchises. Those games are so low key releases, I can't see them being worth that much.
Personal guess, but I bet they were wanting Relic the developer, not the franchises. Relic is a very good dev, historically.

[NatureBoy]

I'm not real enthusiastic about 2K getting the WWE license especially if the MLB 2K crew is going to develop it. Every MLB 2K baseball game I have ever played was a buggy mess.

A History Of THQ, 1989-2013 http://kotaku.com/5978508/a-history-of-thq-1989+2013?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

[JeffHCross]

I'm not real enthusiastic about anyone not named THQ getting the license. Acclaim did a decent job back in the day, but for both brands (WWE and WCW), there haven't been very many games that weren't developed by Yuke's. So unless Yuke's is doing it, I'll stay away.

While I can understand JB being disappointed that 2k got the license, presumably because of his experience with EA MMA, EA's track record with WCW Mayhem and WCW Backstage Assault may be even worse than 2k's track record with the MLB license (if that's possible). I wouldn't be too worried about Visual Concepts getting handed the WWE license ... they haven't done anything remotely WWE-like, so that would be a massive change to give them that license.

(Also worth noting that the same "crew" that developed MLB 2k also was responsible for all of the good 2k sports titles.)

[JBHuskers]

As long as Yukes continues to produce and Take Two is just publishing, then things will be pretty much the same I'd assume. We can only hope because WWE '13 is a very solid title.

[oweb26]

Wow. Sega paid WAY too much for the Warhammer and CoH franchises. Those games are so low key releases, I can't see them being worth that much.

Depends on what you are looking for as a company, both those games were still heavily played years after there realeases, if you look at any strategy game listing of top played games they are always among the top especially those warhammer ones, as the saying goes something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

I just hope they (Koch Media) do my beloved saints row justice!

[souljahbill]

I miss the Aki developed WWF/E games. I always liked their engine better than the Yuke's engine.

[JeffHCross]

Depends on what you are looking for as a company, both those games were still heavily played years after there realeases, if you look at any strategy game listing of top played games they are always among the top especially those warhammer onesPlus Homeworld is still one of the most beloved strategy franchises out there. I believe Relic got the rights to that series sometime in the last couple years.

[cdj]

The future of the WWE franchise is now known (for the most part)


Take-Two has reached an agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), bankrupt publisher THQ and Japanese studio Yuke's to take over development of the WWE video game franchise, according to a motion filed in federal bankruptcy court yesterday.

Under the terms of the new agreements between the four companies, THQ will stop selling its back catalog of WWE titles and pay WWE an estimated $650,000 in royalties for sales of WWE games during the bankruptcy proceedings. THQ will also transfer development equipment worth about $75,000 to Take-Two, along with any software and assets related to the development of WWE titles.

Take-Two will hire THQ's WWE game production staff of about 20 employees, and form new agreements with WWE and Yuke's to produce future WWE games. The price paid by Take-Two for THQ's WWE assets was not disclosed in the court documents. Since Take-Two has not yet formed new contracts with WWE or Yuke's, it remains unclear if the company will release a WWE game in 2013 or if it will have the exclusive rights to the WWE license.

Full story at Polygon (http://www.polygon.com/2013/2/13/3986288/wwe-2014-video-game-license-take-two-yukes-thq)

[JBHuskers]

Definitely the news I wanted to hear.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[bdoughty]

Someone posted this image over at Neogaf. I do not play wraslin games but I rarely every hear anything good about Yukes.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9jy0kBwnU1qzl7f5o1_1280.png

[I OU a Beatn]

:D

[JBHuskers]

Yukes has been solid with the last two titles. Especially WWE '13.

[JeffHCross]

Plus Homeworld is still one of the most beloved strategy franchises out there. I believe Relic got the rights to that series sometime in the last couple years.Either I was wrong about this or Homeworld wasn't part of the sale. Sold to Gearbox instead. Wow.