Troubled THQ To Be Picked Apart By Rivals
Posted by Andy Green
Key franchises to be sold to the highest bidder
The future of THQ largely hangs in the balance as the company struggles to find the cash to stay afloat. Back in December the publisher filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy handing over its assets to investment firm Clearlake Capital, which is now looking for a prospective buyer.
It has been confirmed today that Clearlake Capital has agreed to sell off THQ’s franchises individually on a title-by-title basis, meaning several publishers could end up bidding for the rights to several different games.
All parties have now agreed that the assets will be sold at auction on 22nd January.
Several rumours have emerged since THQ filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, one of which is that Ubisoft intends to purchase its assets in a bid to become an even bigger publisher than it already is. According to Distressed Debt Investing, Electronic Arts is interested in certain titles and has completed site visits.
What are your thoughts on this news? Where would you like to see your favourite THQ franchises end up? As ever, let us know in the comments section below.
[via twitter.com, gamesindustry.biz]
#1
gavn64 said:
no thanks they have nothing i want.
#2
seronja said:
i would rather see sega or take 2 to buy THQ as a full company not by certain franchises only.
#3
soracloud28 said:
Hmmmm I wonder if nintendo is looking to purchase and of the franchises.
#4
soracloud28 said:
Any*
#5
Zhenya said:
this is actually kinda sad
#6
Zhenya said:
@seronja i dont think sega could afford it either
#7
JusticeColde said:
The WWE games license is being sold
#8
Lan said:
#9
Tsuchinoko said:
What ARE their franchises? I actually have no idea.
#10
LEGEND_MARIOID said:
Hopefully many jobs are saved.
#11
Intrepid said:
I'm also curious as to what franchises they have.
#12
cornishlee said:
Pretty safe to assume EA wants WWE.
#13
cornishlee said:
@Tsuchinoko
Mainly tie-in licenses, but also Metro, Red Faction and Homefront: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thq
#14
Bulby said:
Well then, time for EA to destroy all of them
#15
Angelic_Lapras_King said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_THQ_games
Not hard to look up. Again, mostly liecences but I think we'd all agree the WWE one is the big fishy for bidders, unless the E have something to say about it...
#16
cornishlee said:
@Angelic_Lapras_King
Thanks for that, I'd missed that Darksiders was one of theirs, I'd guess that would be the other big hot property. Also, of interest to Wii owners, Deadly Creatures.
#17
MeowGravy said:
As long as South Park:The Stick Of Truth is still being made, let the auctions begin!!!
#18
MegaWatts said:
I just hope Saints Row doesn't fall into the wrong hands. I'd hate to see it be bought out by Rockstar, just so that it could never be used by another studio.
#19
Wildfire said:
Despite that never happening I'd love to see Nintendo getting the rights over Darksiders. Loved the first one and loving even more the sequel on Wii U!
#20
KingJoonToon said:
This will be very interesting so see where some of the franchises go. Specially the likes of WWE, Homefront and Saints Row.
#21
Ernest_The_Crab said:
Hm...Nintendo should try and pick up Saint's Row. Very fun series and frankly I'd say better than GTA in terms of combat and style.
There's too much of an overlap if they were to try and pick up Darksiders though. Hopefully no one actually does what MegaWatts mentioned, I'd hate to see some of their (THQ's) great franchises disappear as a result.
#22
Banker-Style said:
I'd like Ubisoft to nab some of their franchises.
#23
MrSRArter said:
I hope there's at least one WWE on the Wii U before THQ loses it.
#24
MrBabySpencer said:
NOOOOOO!!! I DON'T WANT WWE TO BE RUINED BY ELECTRONIC ARTS
#25
russellohh said:
For anyone wondering which franchieses are up for sale:
Saints Row
Metro 2033
Darksiders
Warhammer
Red Faction
Frontlines.
Maybe 2-3 of those might still be owned by the Developer, but that's a general list of THQ properties as of their bankruptcy filing.
#26
Radbot42 said:
Someone good better pick up Darksiders, it would awful to see the series die halfway through
#27
DePapier said:
It'd be funny to see Nintendo take Metro Last Light and make it a Wii U exclusive.
#28
Tasuki said:
God. I hope EA doesn't get the WWE license. That would suck big time.
#29
Strongo9 said:
STAY AWAY EA! NOBODY LIKES YOU!
#30
EaZy_T said:
@DePapier
I was thinking that too!
#31
grimbldoo said:
Nintendo needs to take Darksiders, if it really is as similar to LoZ, then they would work well with it.
#32
Chriiis said:
@Tasuki I agree; please don't let that happen.
#33
Capt_N said:
I feel sorry for the loss of jobs. I hope THQ employees can, & will get a new job soon, so they will be up on their feet, or never down from being up on their feet.
#34
Jaz007 said:
@ThePillowGolem Saints row feels like its way too dirty to be owned by nintendo though.
#35
duskao said:
there is a reson they are going under. they really sont have that many solid licenses. although i like frontlines better then cod. hope ubi gets a bit, they tend to support nintendo fairly well.