THQ files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will continue to operate
 

Struggling video game publisher THQ announced it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but it will continue to operate as it moves forward with an effort to sell its studios and assets.

The publisher of franchises including Saints Row, Red Faction, and Company of Heroes has entered into a "stalking horse bidder" agreement with Clearlake Capital Group. THQ will sell seemingly all its assets and studios, including Austin's Vigil Games, Champaign's Volition, Vancouver's Relic Entertainment, and THQ Montreal Studios.

Despite the announcement, THQ assured stockholders that all its studios remain open, without any planned layoffs. Development on current projects such as Metro: Last Light and Company of Heroes 2 will continue. "The sale and filing are necessary next steps to complete THQ's transformation and position the company for the future, as we remain confident in our existing pipeline of games, the strength of our studios and THQ’s deep bench of talent," Chairman and CEO Brian Farrell said in a statement.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/1...ue-to-operate/

Son of a... :shadedshu

:banghead:

How exactly is this going to hurt / help, and in the end affect THQ? (I am an IT Analyst, not an economist)

The entire S.T.A.L.K.E.R series was amazing. Metro 2033, and I am sure last light will be too, was amazing. Those right there are some of the best games I have ever played. Homefront was pretty good too and I will gladly play homefront 2. Sad to see a game company not do well.

This usually has to do with management at the executive level. The developers and the working men and women have done a phenomenal job, working my way through Metro 2033 and it is quite amazing, yet it only achieved a 6 on IGN reviews.

Lack of sales is the primary issue too to support bloated upper management. :toast:

What the ****!! THQ is great. It's sad that they filed for Chapter 11. But when all said and done, you never know, they might come out of it, other companies have before. But I feel a little better knowing that they will finish out Metro and CoH for the loyal fans those games have. Seems like more and more game developers are biting the dust nowadays, that sucks :(

What i'm about to say might seem odd :D

Chapter 11 should benefit THQ. Firstly they get to write off a large chunk of debt. I have no idea how a company like THQ amass such a huge debt but I have a feeling a large block of it will be advertising.

Secondly THQ will still be owned by THQ, the government will not step in. And ownership of the company doesn't HAVE to change hands.

I suspect something like this will happen.

THQ will start a liquidation process internally. Writing off the debt and paying out shareholders. Whilst doing this it will sell off lines that have been milked, So i suspect Saints row, company of heroes and metro will be sold off.

The company will then restart, Using new IP, Less overheads, and a different market strategy. Probably P2P portable. This system allows the company to break free from the shackles of contracted IP's. Contractual IP's are probably the companies major goal to break, Once it gets out of those 10+ year contracts for a game where profits are milked at every turn and advertising is a major bugbear then it can start to make games again.

The Biggest problem for a company like THQ is the lack of drive by console manufacturers. In the last 5 years console have not evolved. And in doing so a title that should have been revolutionary due to new hardware has instead had to have a longer development cycle and more advertising to make people buy it. Since in reality the first game they made on consoleX was pushing the hardware, They can't take the next game to the next level the easy way, and the hard way is costly. Had we seen a new xbox and the PS4 in a reasonable time frame then games that were re-skins would have been a lot better sold more and brought in more revenue from the off.

I still find the console market incredible. Xbox was released in 2005, Soon it will have had an 8 year cycle. That's at least 5 years of having to hype a game beyond normal means to generate sales, and Xbox isn't due a rehash till 2015 LMAO. I don't know about you but if i had the choice of a 10 year old back catalogue, i would not be spending money on new titles at £40 when i could get 4 games for £10 each from last year, or 8 games for £5 each second hand!!!! The system is broken.

The lesson here is that add-ons don't sell unless they're sold by Nintendo.

On related news, I picked up a uDraw w/Sponge Bob for $10.

Well they have 2 first day sales from me anyway. Metro Last Light and Homefront 2 will get my cash for sure. Hopefully like me many others will do the same. CoH is a pretty big one for them as well so there's another one that should sell well. Hopefully it's enough to in the least prove to potential investors/buyers they can still put out successful games.

I'll be pre-purchasing COHII when I get my next check. Love COH. Stay alive THQ!

Chapter 11 is reorganization, not closure. HiB only raised some $5.5 million and they owed I think $25 million. Chapter 11 gives them more options to deal with the huge loss from the Wii gamble and still allows them to operate.

http://investor.thq.com/phoenix.zhtm...cle&ID=1768687

''Clearlake has agreed to serve as the “stalking horse bidder” for a Section 363 sale process, which allows other interested parties to come forward with competing bids. Aggregate consideration offered by Clearlake for the purchase totals approximately $60 million, including a new $10 million note for the benefit of the company's creditors. The company is asking the Court for a schedule to complete the sale process in about 30 days. ''

I dont know much about US bankrupcy but it looks like they will be an auction if anyone else wants to buy THQ .


BTw it was obvious for long time to THQ would be file for chapter 11 ( when they hired Centerview Partners that specialised selling companies in financial trouble ) ,what is unknown is relic .Is relic will be sold with others or not ,wording is not clear to me since relic is canadian

Relic, Volition, THQ Montreal, etc. are subsidiaries of THQ. They are part of what is detailed in the filings. They will be part of whatever happens.

Well, it seems development might still continue, but investor shares have dropped alot. Really want to see Saints Row 4 released in the future.

<3 THQ

What exactly can happen to THQ Montreal?

CoH II, Homefront II, and Metro LL are going to sell like hotcakes. THQ games sell relatively well. We just have to hope that the executives don't whisk the money away yet again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_THQ_games

Looks like I haven't played any THQ games since Titan Quest. Maybe their restructuring could involve TQ2. There's no question about it, I would buy!

I can see COH 2 selling very well but not homefront 2. wasnt the first homefront a bomb?

Yes it was. I agree with you COH2 will sell awesome. I REALLY wish someone would make Titans Quest 2.

Yeah Homefront didn't do that well. I picked it up cheap on a Steam Sale. But I really enjoyed it. I felt the SP was a little short but still enjoyable I have played it thru a couple of times easy. I don't know how the MP was but that was never my interest in it anyway.

I would like to think Homefront 2 would actually build on what they did well in the first one and maybe be a bit longer.

Aye indeed so.