THQ not publishing Devil's Third
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Company confirms all rights to upcoming action game--now in its final stages of development--have been returned to Tomonobu Itagaki and Valhalla team.
THQ will not publish Tomonobu Itagaki's Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 action game Devil's Third. The publisher confirmed to Eurogamer today that all rights to the project have been returned to Itagaki and his company Valhalla Games.
"THQ confirms that the company will not be publishing Devil's Third," the publisher told Eurogamer. "All of the game's IP rights have been returned to Itagaki-san and the Valhalla team."
According to Eurogamer, Itagaki first revealed the news to Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. The developer was quoted as thanking THQ for its interest in the property, but admitted that it "wasn't fit for THQ's mid-term plan."
"We were anguished and [THQ] were really kind to us," he said. "Mr. Danny Bilson was searching for a way to work together until the very end. I do appreciate him and THQ managers that signed the transfer contract."
According to Itagaki, Devil's Third is now in its "final stage" of development, but no new publishing partners for the project have been announced.
In May, outgoing THQ executive Danny Bilson said he was not sure if the company would publish Devil's Third, after the firm revealed it was looking to offload the project. At the time, he said whether or not THQ publishes the project, he wants it to be played, because he believes it's "fantastic."
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.
48 comments
Well, it's worth of respect that they return the rights to the original creator instead of just keeping them as an "asset" to prevent others from using it (Activision, EA, learn from this)
Itagaki is a cool guy. He as shown respect to THQ all the way trough this and they are being cool to give him all the rights back with no apparent quibble.
Sad for THQ, but can't rightly say I didn't see this one coming; the writing was on the wall. THQ's woes just keeps deepening. It seems the money to publish is not even available right now. Same thing with the Saint's Row DLC that got bundled into their 3rd sequel. Really feel for them; a couple of years ago they were throwing money around promoting Homefront like it was gonna dethrone COD.
How did it get so bad?
1 Like This is why we need a world without publishers...somehow.
Imagine just how awesome that would be.
@greasemonkey42 Yes; no more new indie studios able to rise without the possibility to cover the millionaire cost of just a single continent publishing.Sorry man, think again...
1 Like He's lucky he wasn't working with Hasbro. They would've held onto the rights just to stop anyone else publishing it.
@Vampire64 Easy to just call someone "failure" without explaining why, right?Please!, share with us a bit of your marteful game designer knowledge!
1 Like @Vampire64 That comparison makes no sense. Itagaki makes good games and he doesn't make a habit of over hyping his games.
@Evz0rz Unless money is involved, I doubt it. Itagaki talked so much shit about Tekken. Namco has no reason to believe Itagaki team is worth anything. They haven't release a single game since leaving Tecmo.
1 Like That's a real bummer for this guy. Hopefully, he can find another publisher in time.
3 Like Hmpf, Itagaki is one cool cat, the room temperature dropped the moment I got a view of his shades and studded jacket in that video.
But honestly though, I'm just glad to see this game isn't completely dead. Hopefully a decent publisher will pick it up.
HTF does that make you laugh?
SR, De Blolb, Darksiders are all good games. Go hate on EA sheesh <_<
I can I just please have this game made already. I have forgotten how long I have been waiting for it.
1 Like I know this is a jerk thing to say, but I really want THQ to just kick the bucket. I want to see what other companies can do with their IPs, particularly Warhammer.
1 Like @Swords1111 The only other people that might pick up their IPs are terrible, terrible companies. There are plenty of valid concerns about THQ, but relatively speaking, they're pretty good (and light-years better than EA or Activision).
1 Like @Swords1111 come on, u really don't mean that do u? THQ is the one that made strategy games feel alive. Well them and Sega's Total War.
9 Like EA will shoehorn in Multiplayer, Activision will begin demanding annual sequels while not paying Itagaki his royalty checks, Capcom would insist on paid DLC just to access content already on the disc, Majesco would fail to advertise it enough to sell well, Tecmo-Koei would refuse to publish it for obvious reasons, & Microsoft would find a way to turn it into a Kinect Title. Nintendo and Sony would both be good developers, but I don't want this title becoming a system exclusive for any one of the big 3.
Off the top of my head, major potential publishers would be Square Enix, 2K, Bethesda, Bandai, Namco, & Sega (Sega could definitely use a good IP in it's stable) Being a Japanese developer, i see Square, Bandai, Namco and Sega being the most likely, but I don't think Square publishes outside of companies they don't own. That knocks us down to the 3 most likely publishers if to pick up the license.
@DarkReign2552 I don't have anyt disagreements on those assumptions.....nailed it, imo. Especially could see Namco-Bandai or Sega being a good fit on picking this up.
Hell, both companies have my highest respects (Namco/Bandai for not deciding against forced DLC on Tekken or SC' Sega for giving mad faith in it's western Yakuza/Ryu ga Gotoku fanbase by release mostly all of the titles to us) for doing right by gamers.
Personally, with their experience in publishing 'M' rated works I'd say Sega would be the best fit.
1 Like @DarkReign2552 Capcom wouldn't make it on-disc DLC. They'll find another way to milk it, but not something they already got called out on so harshly.
@DarkReign2552 I agree with Wolfgang12193. You are really good. But I think out of all the companies, SEGA would be best fitting. First of SEGA is one of the most honest companies. Second, they really value good games and specially innovation. Third, SEGA is one of the last companies that values hardcore gamers and doesn't inject it's games with easy crap to appeal to masses!
Itagaki would find a good home on SEGA!
This is improbable, but I would like for Nintendo to publish it. It could show that they really are willing to get more M rated games for the Wii U.
4 Like I'll be happy whoever picks this up, except EA. Please, please don't let EA get their hands on this.
5 Like @moonlightwolf01 I'd be happy if anyone but $Capcom$ picks this up.cos of the endless DLCs and Edtions
He got rights on the IP so he can do a kikstarter project, and there is no need to depend on some greedy publisher
THQ is the next Titanic anyway good let a company like Konami or Square Enix publish it....just dont let EA get their hands on it or we will be in for microtransaction hell.
Conversation powered by Livefyre
Content you might like…
-
THQ bankruptcy a 'new start' says Rubin
President Jason Rubin explains bankruptcy filing does not signal the end of THQ or its games.
- Dec 20, 2012
Users who looked at this article also looked at these content items.
Hot Stories
Newsmakers
-
Preowned games on Xbox One decided by publisher
Microsoft confirms that it won't charge any fees for any titles eligible for resale. Full Story
- Posted Jun 6, 2013 4:00 pm PT
-
Microsoft confirms required 24-hour check-in for Xbox One
Playing Xbox One games on somebody else's console will also require a check-in every hour. Full Story
- Posted Jun 6, 2013 3:41 pm PT
Featured Stories
-
PlayStation 4 will cost $399
Sony confirms a $399/€399/£349 price for the PlayStation 4 hardware, $100 cheaper than Microsoft's Xbox One. Full Story
- Posted Jun 10, 2013 11:19 pm PT
-
New Halo coming to Xbox One; runs at 60fps
Will be coming in 2014. Full Story
- Posted Jun 10, 2013 11:11 am PT
-
Del Toro calls BioShock Infinite a 'mindf*ck'
Pan's Labyrinth director praises Ken Levine and Irrational Games for latest BioShock, says he would consider large-scale Pacific Rim game "God willing." Full Story
- Posted Jun 13, 2013 8:53 am PT
-
Microsoft: Xbox One will be leading product people love and embrace
Xbox boss Don Mattrick believes concerns over connectivity are overblown, recommends Xbox 360 for those without an Internet connection. Full Story
- Posted Jun 11, 2013 5:52 pm PT
-
New Mirror's Edge is open-world
EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau describes new project as "open-world action adventure game." Full Story
- Posted Jun 12, 2013 10:45 am PT
Submit News
Related Game
Recent News
-
Sony on why it won't hinder PS4 used games--flexibility creates value
PlayStation boss Jack Tretton says ability to freely resell games creates value in the initial purchase; PS4 won't require online check-in because many...
