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LeftOfSelf-Centered

(776 posts)
Thu Jan 24, 2013, 08:18 AM Jan 2013

THQ dissolves, auctions off franchises and studios – here’s who bought what

Last edited Fri Jan 25, 2013, 09:26 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: PCGamer
Article: http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/24/thq-dissolves-auctions-off-properties-heres-who-got-what/

Tyler Wilde at 01:30am January 24 2013

THQ is no more: the bankrupt publisher and developer auctioned off its assets in U.S. Bankruptcy Court today. Though the court must still approve the sales, a letter from THQ’s CEO (which was passed to Kotaku by an employee) reveals the bidders, which include Sega, Ubisoft, Deep Silver, Crytek, and Take-Two, and the THQ franchises and studios they’ll acquire. Below is a breakdown of who’s getting what, and what led to today’s sale.

Who’s getting what? Based on what we know right now…
Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000 developer Relic Entertainment is going to Sega.
Saints Row developer Volition, Inc. and the Metro series are going to Koch Media (Deep Silver).
The Homefront franchise is going to Crytek.
THQ Montreal and the South Park license are going to Ubisoft.
Evolve, a game in development by Turtle Rock Studios (which worked on Left 4 Dead), is going to Take-Two Interactive.
THQ will “make every effort to find appropriate buyers” for its remaining assets, such as Darksiders developer Vigil Games.

What happened?

On November 13, 2012, THQ announced that it had defaulted on a $50 million loan. Its subsequent Humble THQ Bundle raised about $5 million for THQ, charities, and the Humble Bundle organizers, but it wasn’t enough: the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 19th.

Bankruptcy isn’t necessarily the end—Chapter 11 allows the debtor to stay in control of the company under court oversight—but things didn’t go as planned. THQ expected to sell itself in whole to a private equity firm called Clearlake Capital Group, but THQ’s creditors and the bankruptcy court rejected that proposal earlier this month, which led to today’s piece by piece auction.

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It's too bad it had to end this way. A few IPs (like Darksiders) haven't been picked up yet, and I also have a feeling that a fair amount of people are going to be losing their jobs...

The IPs I was interested in (Metro and Saint's Row) were both picked by Koch Media (nothing to do with the Koch Bros. , who run Deep Silver. I'm not really familiar with them so I don't know how that bodes for the future. The only Deep Silver titles I have are the X Series of space sims.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see...

7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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THQ dissolves, auctions off franchises and studios – here’s who bought what (Original Post) LeftOfSelf-Centered Jan 2013 OP
Wonder where Gas Powered Games is going... Hong Kong Cavalier Jan 2013 #1
There was an article about Gas Powered games just a few days ago. LeftOfSelf-Centered Jan 2013 #2
GPG's in kind of a sad situation with their lineup Posteritatis Jan 2013 #7
THQ remembered: the ten best games LeftOfSelf-Centered Jan 2013 #3
Ubisoft, shit with a U DainBramaged Jan 2013 #4
I dunno, the idea of Warhammer: Total War tickles my interest nodes Posteritatis Jan 2013 #5
I played it for two years and moved on to WOW DainBramaged Jan 2013 #6

Hong Kong Cavalier

(4,573 posts)
1. Wonder where Gas Powered Games is going...
Thu Jan 24, 2013, 12:41 PM
Jan 2013

I wouldn't mind seeing a Supreme Commander 3, but I don't think SC2 did very well.

And speaking of Relic, I really want to see Homeworld 3. But I think Vivendi isn't letting go of the franchise rights.

2. There was an article about Gas Powered games just a few days ago.
Thu Jan 24, 2013, 01:04 PM
Jan 2013

Layoffs hit Gas Powered Games just after launching $1.1M Kickstarter campaign
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/19/layoffs-hit-gas-powered-games-just-after-launching-its-1-1m-kickstarter-campaign/

It doesn't mention anything about them being involved in the THQ bankruptcy proceedings, so I'm not sure if it has anything to do with their layoffs.

Posteritatis

(18,807 posts)
7. GPG's in kind of a sad situation with their lineup
Fri Jan 25, 2013, 09:14 PM
Jan 2013

They tend to do brilliant, fairly innovative games that are only mediocre performers commercially.

It's always kind of bugged me - I like large-scale RTSes as opposed to the party-of-eight MMO simualtors that seem more common these days, and GPG's one of the few companies that consistently delivered.

3. THQ remembered: the ten best games
Thu Jan 24, 2013, 02:44 PM
Jan 2013
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/24/thq-remembered-the-ten-best-games/

---------------------------------

Of those listed I played S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Metro 2033 and Saint's Row: The Third and I loved all three, even though I had minor issues with Metro 2033 (Yes, I'm looking at you checkpoint save system and wonky controls).

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. actually ranks among my favorite games ever.

DainBramaged

(39,191 posts)
4. Ubisoft, shit with a U
Thu Jan 24, 2013, 10:36 PM
Jan 2013

Sad fucking day. Warhammer 40K was a fun fun game until they dicked around with it at every junction. Great graphics and game play. SEGA will fuck it up........


The rest, may they rest in pieces.....

Posteritatis

(18,807 posts)
5. I dunno, the idea of Warhammer: Total War tickles my interest nodes
Fri Jan 25, 2013, 09:07 PM
Jan 2013

Deep Silver getting any of those IPs is just a travesty, though. Ugh.

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