Saints Row, Home Front and Company of Heroes may have new homes as THQ closes down and auctions off its major franchises.
Saints Row, Home Front and Company of Heroes may have new homes as THQ closes down and auctions off its major franchises.
January 24th 2013 – THQ, the publisher of such games as Saints Row, Company of Heroes, and Dawn of War has been debt ridden for the past couple of months. Today they have been forced to auction off its main key franchises.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December and hoped for a speedy sale however investors objected to the deal as a US court found in their favour due to THQ not taking an aggressive stance in seeking potential buyers. An auction was held on January 22nd to sell off the publishers studios and assets one at a time. As a result this is end of the company that has produce top titles for the past 20 years.
The final results of the auction need to be formerly approved by the court, but the majority of THQ’s franchises are now in effect under new ownership. Here is a short summary of who got what –
Relic Entertainment – $26.6m to Sega
Volition Studio inc Metro and Saints Row – $22.3m to Koch Media
Homefront – $544,218 to Crytek
THQ Montreal – $2.5m to Ubisoft
Evolve – $11m to Take Two
South Park : The Stick of Truth – $3.26m to Ubisoft
WWE License – Unknown to Take Two
DarkSiders – No buyer found
Volition Studio inc Metro and Saints Row – $22.3m to Koch Media
Homefront – $544,218 to Crytek
THQ Montreal – $2.5m to Ubisoft
Evolve – $11m to Take Two
South Park : The Stick of Truth – $3.26m to Ubisoft
WWE License – Unknown to Take Two
DarkSiders – No buyer found
THQ has struggled for many years to continue develop consistent successful titles and main hits failing to cover such flops like the UDraw tablet.
A statement from the companies president Jason Rubin who only joined THQ last May said: “I was brought in eight months ago to help turn this ship around, and while I’m disappointed that we could not effect a sale for the entire operating business, I am pleased that the new buyers will be providing jobs to many of our very talented personnel.”
What do you think about THQ going under? what effect will this have on the gaming community and future releases such as Company of Heroes 2? Come and let us know what you think on our community forums!
