Future of THQ is in question...

shoptroll wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I would probably giggle myself to death if Nintendo owned Darksiders.

That would be amusing. I don't think Nintendo really makes overt purchases of Western companies though. Rare remained mostly independent, but I'm not sure how Retro is handled.

I'd expect Microsoft to make an offer long before Nintendo or Sony. But, I think THQ's properties/studios will go to one of the remaining AAA publishers before the platform holders.

Actually, we've mostly been thinking in terms of Western publishers, haven't we? Though I think someone mentioned Squenix, I wonder if Capcom would be in the running to buy up some THQ assets. I mean, let's face it, they've been wanting to break into Western games but have kept choosing poor companies to do so (though Bionic Commando WAS a fun game, just too grimdark and awkward in some spaces to warrant the sales).

Or maybe there's something else going on in that regard? Just look at Ninja Theory's Devil May Cry and the reaction it has been getting.

Vector wrote:

Don't worry, in 4 years the fans will have fixed the game.

I personally don't think that's something to be striving for though, and I'd say the majority of AAA games coming out are not friendly (or hostile to, proprietary pack files, etc) to 3rd party modding/fixes.

Scratched wrote:
Vector wrote:

Don't worry, in 4 years the fans will have fixed the game.

I personally don't think that's something to be striving for though, and I'd say the majority of AAA games coming out are not friendly (or hostile to, proprietary pack files, etc) to 3rd party modding/fixes.

You're not very good at jokes.

ccesarano wrote:

Though I think someone mentioned Squenix, I wonder if Capcom would be in the running to buy up some THQ assets.

I don't think Capcom is known for buying up developers. Maybe Namco-Bandai?

Looks like bankruptcy court doesn't approve of THQ's stalking horse buyer plans and now it looks like all their IP will be sold off piecemeal in an auction on the 22nd. One of the big potential bidders in EA. At least from how this article reads, people are only interested in the IPs which means most of the studios are probably getting screwed. Brian Farrell's legacy of disgrace continues.

Vector wrote:
Scratched wrote:
Vector wrote:

Don't worry, in 4 years the fans will have fixed the game.

I personally don't think that's something to be striving for though, and I'd say the majority of AAA games coming out are not friendly (or hostile to, proprietary pack files, etc) to 3rd party modding/fixes.

You're not very good at jokes.

Gah, wikipedia says Relic is a subsidiary of THQ, which means their stuff is up for grabs too.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

Looks like bankruptcy court doesn't approve of THQ's stalking horse buyer plans and now it looks like all their IP will be sold off piecemeal in an auction on the 22nd. One of the big potential bidders in EA. At least from how this article reads, people are only interested in the IPs which means most of the studios are probably getting screwed. Brian Farrell's legacy of disgrace continues.

If whoever buys the rights to Saints Row removes Volition as the developer, I will be very disappointed.

MeatMan wrote:
Parallax Abstraction wrote:

Looks like bankruptcy court doesn't approve of THQ's stalking horse buyer plans and now it looks like all their IP will be sold off piecemeal in an auction on the 22nd. One of the big potential bidders in EA. At least from how this article reads, people are only interested in the IPs which means most of the studios are probably getting screwed. Brian Farrell's legacy of disgrace continues.

If whoever buys the rights to Saints Row removes Volition as the developer, I will be very disappointed.

I think having something any form of "our version of GTA" will be very tempting to a buyer. But yes, it's all very well buying something called Saint's Row and the associated world, but something else to buy the people who made it (and Descent, Freespace, and Red Faction) in the first place.

MeatMan wrote:
Parallax Abstraction wrote:

Looks like bankruptcy court doesn't approve of THQ's stalking horse buyer plans and now it looks like all their IP will be sold off piecemeal in an auction on the 22nd. One of the big potential bidders in EA. At least from how this article reads, people are only interested in the IPs which means most of the studios are probably getting screwed. Brian Farrell's legacy of disgrace continues.

If whoever buys the rights to Saints Row removes Volition as the developer, I will be very disappointed.

Ditto if this ends up separating Relic and the 40k license.

Pretty much ditto in every case. I would hope that buying the IP and the studio responsible for it goes hand in hand, but things rarely go over so well. Typically the best you can hope for is they pick up a few key employees that are shuffled into one of their existing studios, and then a whole bunch of people are out of a job.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Off to a great start already. :S

Relic is the one I would be most concerned about, I can't think of any other publisher that would let them do what they've done, or has produced anything similar that would compliment them. For the multiplayer side of the game, I fear for the long-term health of COH2 unless they've got great plans to continuously bring in more money.

I kind of hope EA has success with their new C&C so they're happy with their lot in the RTS space and don't turn their studio destroying reputation to Relic. Either that or the staff abandon ship and form new studios or get hired elsewhere, but then the jobs market isn't great and people have bills to pay.

None of this is good news. This is the worst possible news.

Vector wrote:

None of this is good news. This is the worst possible news.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Darksiders is good and you all should have payed $30 for it.

This.

Darksiders is good and you all should have payed $30 for it.

Anyway, has anything been said about what this means for the projects in progress? I want to play South Park. I haven't gotten around to playing Darksiders 2 yet, but is the rest of that DLC going to come out? I think two are available so far, the season pass I got from THQ said there'd be... 4?

I don't think this is the worst thing that could happen, by the way...

SallyNasty wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

Darksiders is good and you all should have payed $30 for it.

This.

If only we had a place to ask if it was good.

Scratched wrote:

Relic is the one I would be most concerned about, I can't think of any other publisher that would let them do what they've done, or has produced anything similar that would compliment them. For the multiplayer side of the game, I fear for the long-term health of COH2 unless they've got great plans to continuously bring in more money.

I kind of hope EA has success with their new C&C so they're happy with their lot in the RTS space and don't turn their studio destroying reputation to Relic. Either that or the staff abandon ship and form new studios or get hired elsewhere, but then the jobs market isn't great and people have bills to pay.

Considering you can preorder Company of Heroes 2 on Origin, I'm somewhat concerned. But it is also a steamworks game, so.... yeah, not sure how that would end up.

There aren't many announced games this year that I've been interested in, and two of them are Metro Last Light and South Park: The Stick of Truth. They were both due out pretty soon. I hope they don't get buried...

MeatMan wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

Darksiders is good and you all should have payed $30 for it.

This.

If only we had a place to ask if it was good.

Dont. Tempt. Me.

I didn't even think of it before, but something good might definitely come out of this event. Someone might purchase and subsequently make another Homeworld game!

I was going to moan about what other studio would do it justice, but it wasn't looking like Relic were ever going to get around to making HW3, even without the troubles for their parent company.

Although it's somewhere on the list of 'things that will never happen' I wouldn't mind them opening up the HW1 resources and letting someone do a remake. Although HW1 still kind-of works, it would be nice to see a revamp, new interface, reworked control methods, etc. Whoever gets the rights could judge the demand for more HW from that.

So today is auction day, but the South Park game may not be included.

Nice, I got it for $20 because I had a $5 promotional credit. I got it for the handful of titles I don't already own.

MeatMan wrote:

So today is auction day, but the South Park game may not be included.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Nice, I got it for $20 because I had a $5 promotional credit. I got it for the handful of titles I don't already own.

I like this juxtaposition.

They were really desperate, Wembley!

Man, I'm really worried about Relic. Fingers crossed.

3 minutes until popcorn time!