President Jason Rubin explains bankruptcy filing does not signal the end of THQ or its games.
THQ president Jason Rubin has explained, in plain English, what the company's recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing means for the future of the company and its games. Writing on the THQ website, Rubin explained that neither THQ, nor its games, are going away.
"The most important thing to understand is that Chapter 11 does not mean the end of the THQ story or the end of the titles you love," Rubin said. "Quite the opposite is true, actually."
Rubin explained that Chapter 11 is a "safety net" for United States companies. The executive pointed out that American Airlines is currently undergoing Chapter 11 restructuring and yet he flew on that airline recently to visit Saints Row developer Volition this month.
"MGM filed Chapter 11 two years ago, and this year it released 'Skyfall' and 'The Hobbit,' two of the biggest titles of the year. That’s what I mean when I say new start," he said.
"Whatever happens, the teams and products look likely to end up together and in good hands. That means you can still pre-order Metro: Last Light, Company of Heroes 2, and South Park: The Stick of Truth," Rubin added. "Our teams are still working on those titles as you read this, and all other rumored titles, like the fourth Saints Row, the Homefront sequel, and a lot more are also still in the works."
As noted in THQ's bankruptcy filing, private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group is interested in purchasing all of THQ's assets. This includes staff at wholly-owned studios (Relic, THQ Montreal, Vigil, and Volition), the company's intellectual property (titles, source code), its contracts (like those with Crytek, South Park Digital Studios, 4A Games, Obsidian, and Turtle Rock), and various support staff.
Clearlake is also providing THQ with money to continue working on its projects during the sale period and also following the sale, which is estimated to be complete in 30 days.
"In short, they are investing in a new start for our company," Rubin said.
Though Rubin is optimistic about the future of THQ, he cautioned that nothing is set in stone until the deal goes through.
"Our Chapter 11 process allows for other bidders to make competing offers for THQ. So while we are extremely excited about the Clearlake opportunity, we won’t be able to say that the deal is done for a month or so," Rubin said.
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.
Nice try to keep investors interested in a sinking ship. You'd think that after they have a new owner, fresh money to invest, the profits will still be crappy and they'll be bankrupt again in a few years. Maybe good for those that keep their job and get to play games, bad for those investors who lost their money in the Chapter 11 case (and don't say government money is fine either, it's tax money, and extra cash on that foreign debt!)
3 Like No matter what anyone says, Rubin is the best thing to happen to THQ. If they do sell, I hope Ubisoft, Square Enix, or 2K games acquires them.
If anyone is to blame, point the finger at the CEO Brian Farrell for greenlighting "uDraw." That tanked the company.
Whatever happens, I hope the THQ games fall into the right creative minds and hands so they can continue to craft its legacy.
Hahaha "new start" you know why its a new start? because our government is going to throw them money to recover! new start....
1 Like Fresh start, we'll see. If they fail they will be on 2013 RIP game companies. I'll miss THQ though, (War hammer 2, titan quests, and dark siders.)
2 Like I love how nothing is supposed to die or fail anymore. I find it ridiculous. It's no wonder our industries are full of regurgitated nickle and dime garbage now. Death is a natural part of life. If nothing does, nothing improves. You want a fresh start? Get another job!!!
3 Like THQ isn't a corporate hungry company. They are one of the last, great game publishers around. They've published some of the best franchises in the past decade.
Why would you want them to die and disappear? This isn't an evil, greedy corporation we're talking about. And that "get another job" comment struck a nerve so deep, I would punch you if you said that to me in person.
You belong in society's group of scumbags, far and away from good, wonderful people who deserve a job.
Darksiders II deserved to have more sales. It was a great game.
Other than that though, I'm not the biggest fan of THQ's games. Homefront, Saints Row, and South Park do not interest me.
Titan's Quest could have become a landmark franchise... if it wasn't released in an unplayable state. There was a fantastic game underneath all those bugs and crashes.
interesting turn of events indeed, we will see how it goes, I wish to believe this means Dark millenium is back on its tracks , but how knows.
still THQ makes me think of that episode of south park ....ok I found a video, wish I could find one better though.
I don't believe a single word about any 'new start,' how could having gone so far under be a turning point when the most critical ones in terms of the developer's direction as evidenced by their products lately lead to any meaningful 'start' when the games suffered from their own content? What ever happened to games like Titan Quest? Did all the good ones migrate out to Grimm Dawn?
I tried to post links to google finance but they didn't work correctly on this. So I deleted the posts.
1 Like What a bunch of criminals. These guys deserve to be in prison for the frauds they committed. Tons of insider trading, take a look at the December 2011 price decline. All the institutional investors found out about the uDraw failure long before the regular joe shmoe gamers that invested in the company like me did. We found out on Feb 2nd.
@tgwolf Because the SEC only cares about flashy big name cases and doesn't give a damn about an obscure video game stock. It just seems like so many obvious cases of insider trading and other activities. Heck, the uDraw fiasco happened in holiday 2011. The failure wasn't announced until the quarterly conference call on Feb 2nd (after the market closed). On Feb 3rd the stock tanked as people were then able to sell. If you look at December 2011 and Jan 2012, BEFORE this information was made public, MASSIVE selling occurred. The stock went from $2.39 on Nov 11th to .65 (yes 65 CENTS) on January 16th. Keep in mind that no news was released. All this trading was done with insider information. You can look at the charts yourself. What a bunch of criminals. I could give other examples.
For all you THQ fan boys that still believe that THQ is not a copycat company...
http://venturebeat.com/2011/05/25/how-many-ways-can-thqs-space-marine-game-rip-off-gears-of-war/
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2007/04/11/STALKER_ripping_off_doom_3/1
Trust me... we will be much better off without THQ.
3 Like I know you are probably mentally retarded (especially when you use the article stating that Space Marine ripped off GoW, when it is the other way around. 40K has been around for 25 years you idiot,) but more competition in the games industry is a GOOD thing not bad. And the quality and of THQ games far outweigh any drivel most major publishers have made this generation. Especially your precious Rockstar's GTA. I'd much rather have fun with Saint's Row than be bored to tears with GTA. And Stalker ripping off Doom 3? Have you EVEN PLAYED STALKER? Get your head out of your ass. @CaesarIIII
Rubin, don't use the MGM comparison. The MGM bankruptcy kept The Cabin in the Woods on the shelf for 2 years and more importantly kept The Hobbit in limbo for so long that GdT walked away, leaving it in the hands of bloatmeister Peter Jackson.
Homefront games weren't highly profitable, but it held its own. Recoup'ed its cost and gained a small margin in profit. The quality of the game itself, not so good though. Maybe they need to spend their resources on another franchise, and level up the production value on let's say... Dawn of War or Red Faction franchises, or even Saints Row.
1 Like they just need a good solid release. i think that company of heroes 2 is what they need right now.
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To be honest, Devil's Third looked horrible. The Japanese still don't know what gamers want. Hell, look at Resident Evil franchise and where it has gone.
2 Like I think it's great. THQ has been going in a good direction for about 3 years, but their past caught up with them anyways. Now they will hopefully keep going in that same direction, but without the massive debt load.
1 Like He can color code it all he wants, we know what bankruptcy means. Nothing compelling has come from your development teams for a while now. The rest of the world is moving towards social media and you're still publishing ps2 games with high def graphics. Games like dark souls makes you feel like your on your own, yet playing with others. Super mario shows live tips and pictures from other gamers. You tried to make red faction cheaper and you got a lackluster product. What did you expect?
1 Like You're talking about the President of THQ, not a street thug with no education. He knows EXACTLY what he's talking about. Certainly, YOU don't.
PS2 games with high def graphics? Get over yourself. THQ has Company of Heroes 1 and 2, Metro 2033, Metro Last Light, Saints Row The Third, Darksiders 1 and 2, Dawn of War franchise.
You clearly don't fckin know what you're talking about. GTFO hahaha You monkey.
1 Like @dogpigfish You seem to be implying that publishers need to sell good games in order to be successful.
4 Like @dogpigfish "Color code?" I think you mean "sugar coat."
And secondly he's not "sugar coating" anything since that's precisely what Chapter 11 means.
THQ is the damn best
but one thing i want to complain, for those who got company of heroes
and just wanted to play the campaign, why dafuq did we need to download shitload of updates just to run the game? and why the always online for the tales of valor (without steam)
plus all the bullshit on company of heroes antology CD-keys that didn't work
THQ please be better when people shop in retail stores
cause the antology was a fucking disaster
still THQ is one of my favorite companies
15 Like Dear EA and Activision, THQ is a terrible investment, don't bother with them. Seriously, terrible, not one good game to be had from them. Sincerely, all gamers. ..... Think they bought it?
1 Like @---Cipher--- Good God i did not think about one of them buying them..........scary thought.
Well, I'm glad none of the games are effected. Let's hope with the acquisition that THQ won't stay in bankruptcy for too long.
if ubisoft would make the highest bid that would mean lot's of shovelware will come up, if EA lot's of overpriced DLC's ( like in ME3 ) and just bad decision's and activison... well they are activision wich is never a good idea... i hope THQ finds a new welcoming home at the right bider's, maybe at sega or take 2
What is the most hated game Companys ? let me guess the first one begins with E and the other company begins with A
9 Like God I hope we see THQ come back stronger than ever. With at least 3 new IPs in the works and solid AAA core titles it's up to us gamers to support them.
THQ could find new life as a Nintendo exclusive developer. If they consoledate all of the studios into one. Sell some IP's and assets. Then if THQ can ride the propect of the Wii U thriving in the 8th Generation. THQ could face new possibilites of a new start. But it is unlike that they could actually do this.
@Megavideogamer They'd also lose their PC market, which they aren't going to give up. They make a decent chunk of change from Relic's RTSes.
They would lose the WWE license if they did that. WWE wants their game on many platforms.
9 Like @Megavideogamer It's unlikely that they would do this, as it would be a really dumb idea.
Court-supervised sale process will see bidding on franchises including Darksiders, Red Faction and licensed software like Marvel Super Hero Squad.
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