Despite my playthrough of Crysis 2 being a little underwhelming, and reading average reviews of the 3rd, the first and its expansion are classics. If done right, the thought of a Homefront sequel by Crytek is good news.
THQ dissolved
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Bankrupt publisher to be broken apart, with games and studios sold to Sega, Koch Media, Crytek, Take-Two, and Ubisoft.
THQ is no more. The company will be broken apart and its games sold to at least five different companies, according to a letter sent to employees today from CEO Brian Farrell and president Jason Rubin. Kotaku obtained the letter, which further states THQ is currently presenting its case to the US Bankruptcy Court.
The proposed sale, including sales figures and backup bidders for each, is below.
Relic Entertainment and Company of Heroes franchise
Winning bid: $26.6 million - Sega Corporation
Backup bidder: $26.3 million - Zenimax Media
THQ Montreal, including 1666 and Underdog
Winning bid: $2.5 million - Ubisoft
Backup bidder: None
Evolve aka Metamorphosis
Winning bid: $10.894 million - Take-Two Interactive
Backup bidder: $250,000 - Turtle Rock Studios, Inc.
Volition and Saints Row franchise
Winning bid: $22.3 million - Koch Media
Backup bidder: $5.4 million - Ubisoft
Homefront franchise
Winning bid: $544,218 - Crytek
Backup bidder: None
Metro franchise
Winning bid: $5,877,551 - Koch Media
Backup bidder: $5.175 million - Ubisoft
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Winning bid: $3,265,306 - Ubisoft
Backup bidder: None
The fate of the Darksiders franchise and its developer, Vigil Games, is unknown. Farrell and Rubin said, "We will make every effort to find appropriate buyers, if possible."
The formal THQ auction document reveals an unannounced game from THQ Montreal called "Underdog." This is in addition to the company's still-unannounced "1666" and could be a working title.
The document also suggests that High Voltage Software (The Conduit) is working with Volition Inc. on development on Saints Row 4, though it is not clear in what capacity.
Farrell and Rubin said most employees included in the sale will be offered jobs by their new owners. However, this is not a certainty, and "there will likely be some positions that will not be needed under the new ownership," they said.
All employees of a company not included in the sale will be out of a job. A "small number" of staff at THQ headquarters in Agoura Hills, California, will remain employed beyond January 25 to assist in the transition.
"While the company will cease to exist, we are heartened that the majority of our studios and games will continue under new ownership," Farrell and Rubin said. "We were hoping that the entire company would remain intact, but we expect to hear good news from each of the separate entities that will be operating as part of new organizations."
"For those THQ employees who are part of entities that are not included in the sale, we are confident that the talent you have displayed as part of THQ will be recognized as you take the next steps in your career," they said.
Separately, THQ bankruptcy representatives told GameSpot today that an official announcement will be made once it has approval from the court and from the company's lawyers. No specific timetable was provided.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
872 comments
"For those THQ employees who are part of entities that are not included in the sale, we are confident that the talent you have displayed as part of THQ will be recognized as you take the next steps in your career," ...
Talk about Euphemism !!!
2 Like Im just loling. Sega got the Warhammer franchise. Next stop Warhammer 40k total war edition. Futuristic battles in the milky way galaxy. Do u have what it takes to be the next God Emperor? Facepalm!!!!
2 Like while thq had at one point been my favorite producer, i am overjoyed by this. Those d bags ruined everything.
And it wont be bad to see things like metro in the hands of folks like deep silver (koch, they made one of the stalker games already), and folks like sega (who made the total war series) getting their hands on dawn of war and company of heroes etc.
Looks like Darksiders might become a collector's item. And who is Koch media? Sorta hoped Ubisoft would get the Metro series.
4 Like Does anyone else find it hysterical that every single franchise sold for millions of dollars, but Homefront sells for 500k and has no runner up bidder? Talk about confirmation for how horrible a game is.
1 Like @BYOBando123 By your reasoning, the Darksiders games must be terrible then because there isn't even a buyer.
1 Like WHAT ..!! no one bought Darksiders ...Really..!!!. That is shocking as hell....I mean it was the best IP among all the others....Tragic really.
@FROZENFAR962269 best case scenario, they keep the original team and let them finish what they started. most likely they'll keep the team, but release a largely unfinished game trying to turn a quick profit. they made dead island and risen. i'm finding it hard to be optimistic
homeworld.............................................................................................
Surprising that Company of Heroes got several million dollars more than the Saints Row series. Also, Crytek made themselves a good deal fetching Homefront for half a million. It may have been a crap game, but it still sold almost 3 million units. The name recognition alone is worth the money for a sequel.
1 Like @shantd not to mention being a neat concept. and being about shooting koreans. I can't help but wonder about crytek sometimes...
@Black_Pander "being about shooting koreans." lol, so true. Remove the Nanosuit and anything to do with the Ceph, re-use all the Korean skins and dialogue from Crysis and Crysis Warhead, re-use the environments from Crysis 2 and we have...Homefront 2! It must've been a no-brainer for them.
2 Like As long as my COH 2 comes out with a bang and it's polished i'm ok w.e that, I mean who knows maybe they'll let creative assembly work with it, Love the Total War series, and Sega publishes it out, never been disappointed with their games so far, I'm not to worried. Homefront and Crytek might just make a nice pair. I'm looking forward for the South Park game, we'll see how that goes. Koch They published stalker clear sky, and I rather enjoyed it so I could see metro living on perhaps. The rest of the games/franchises i could care less about. R.I.P THQ though they surely will be missed, sad to see them go, one company that still held it's head high and produced quality games for their gamers, that's my opinion at least, I will miss them! Thanks for the great games!!!!!!!!!!!
bright side: those shitty movie based games will be delayed until they start the machine back up.
1 Like F*CK why Relic Went to Sega?Now they gonna f*ck up the Warhammer franchise (the new 3rd person and all those strategy one's)Sega go make your Multifunctional sh*tty games ( referring to Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit and Binary Domain)Get Away From RELIC!
the team was renamed crytek usa and has said no future darksiders will be developed....... teah
1 Like Sad...this is...very very very saad...from alot of aspects....THQ was and will remain (in memory) a good, proud and just Publisher... probably that's why it died...Unlike EA and other who will try to make all the money possible from a game... (I do agree with them to some extend...I mean developers DO need to eat and have families etc, but sometimes is just waaay to aggressive...their marketing scheme)...
Still.. I dropped a tear when I read this even if I don't know anyone personal at THQ...it sorrows me alot....I hoped they will not die like this....
1 Like There's a Kickstart going on to buy the Homeworld IP. I can't say I really trust the folks doing the kickstart, though. I would rather see Stardock buy it. (And I would very much like to see GOG start selling the first two games!)
2 Like Volition and Saints Row franchise
Winning bid: $22.3 million - Koch Media
Backup bidder: $5.4 million - Ubisoft
Koch Media was a tad zealous here! Must really highly value the Saints Row franchise
As sad as I am to see it go, I will be honest that I saw this coming.
They were on a downward spiral since the start of the last decade, so I didn't have many hopes lasting 'til 2015. Such a shame for them to die out all the same.
RIP THQ. I had a great time playing a lot of WWE games, so I will definitely miss them around.
just an advise disabled the auto updates on all your THQ published games on steam or any other platform that does the same who knows what might happen.
2 Like That sucks. TH-Q was a great company. I'm a little worried about this however.
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Winning bid: $3,265,306 - Ubisoft
I hope Ubisoft doesn't screw it up. This is really the only game I'm looking forward to coming out of TH-Q.
@blackace ubisoft is a pretty solid company. the vast majority of the games that they've released have been pretty solid.
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