THQ files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will continue to operate

[Frag Maniac]

I have to wonder if they'd continued the RF series better with something more akin to a modernized version of Guerrilla, and not canned the series altogether, they'd have survived this better.

RF and Metro are really the only games they make that I like. This is not a big enough outfit to weather dropping one of their most popular series after ending it with a pretty bad installment in Armageddon.

It's a lack of rational priorities like this that can do in some pub/dev teams. I have to wonder if Codemasters is headed the same direction. They've put off making a sequel of one of their most popular games (GRID) for years in favor of cranking out one crap title after another in the F1, Flashpoint and DiRT franchises. Eventually that takes a toll on you.

[ViperXTR]

Call of Duty “stamped out memories” of what made FPS games great, says THQ
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/12/22/ca...ame=0&ns_fee=0

THQ’s global communications boss Huw Beynon recently spoke to OXM about Metro: Last Light’s post-apocalyptic appeal and handsome Russian mutants. Benyon’s thoughts eventually expanded to a criticism of the rut he believes the FPS genre has wallowed in for years. Specifically, he calls out Call of Duty’s rinse-repeat military formula for “stamping out” other creative shooter ideas.

“I think it’s probably very true to say that there’s reaction to what used to be a small subset of the genre of a military shooter,” he said. “It’s ballooned and mushroom-clouded to almost define the genre and kind of stamp out memories of what I remember being great about first person shooters, whether that was Half-Life, System Shock, or GoldenEye—where a FPS didn’t necessarily have to involve military material, it just meant an invitation to a fantastic other world, which to me was always the point of video games in the first place.”

Beynon also suggested gamers are slowly detaching themselves from the idea of always playing as a military superman, and that gamers are hungry for different experiences—like Metro. He also points to Dishonored as a successful experiment. ”I’ve hugely enjoyed [Dishonored] and I’m thrilled that they’ve had success with that—it’s probably the game that’s interested me most this year and am glad to see it get the critical and hopefully commercial success that it deserves.”

THQ filed for bankruptcy earlier this week but continues to keep its publishing duties and upcoming releases active. Elsewhere and earlier on, Black Ops 2 raked in gobs of profit, but not quite as many as its big brother, Modern Warfare.

[xenocide]

Originally Posted by Iceni

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.

THQ is paying too much to make games, and using budgets as large as the entire development budget to market them. It's horribly wasteful and has not paid off in the slightest.

Originally Posted by Iceni

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.

More than likely they will retain those titles actually. Saints Row has become very successful, and a SR4 would actually sell very well and bring them much needed revenue--reliable revenue. Metro would probably be the only one auctioned off--if any, but CoH is another game that THQ could rely on bringing in profit. I would not be surprised if they sold they sold Homefront 2--since Crytek is attached to it--and got top dollar. The first one didn't sell bad, it was just a let down in the CoD-era market.

Originally Posted by Iceni

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.

So you'd rather see THQ pumping out mediocre low budget iOS games than something like Saints Row 4? Hell, Homefront 2 is being made by Crytek UK, and that will definitely be an excellent game, and should sell fairly well. They have a lot of great games nearing completion--the South Park game will be great, Homefront 2 will be great, Saints Row 4 would be awesome, and CoH2 would be awesome. Metro LL is kind of a toss up, but other than that they have a lot of solid titles coming out, just need time to get them out.

Advertising is their biggest issue. I have seen so many ads for THQ games in recent months, an excessive amount to say the least.

Originally Posted by Iceni

Xbox isn't due a rehash till 2015 LMAO.

Actually 2014. Rumors peg Microsoft announcing it early 2013, and releasing it in either fall (similar to what Nintendo did with the Wii U) or pushing it to mid 2014.

[Naito]

Originally Posted by Iceni

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.

Company of Heroes, milked? I don't think so; a sequel isn't even out yet. The game is years old and had 2 expansions, which is a pretty standard affair.

Metro is not milked either, with only one game, with the title, currently released.

[rtwjunkie]

Originally Posted by Frag Maniac

in favor of cranking out one crap title after another in the F1, Flashpoint and DiRT franchises.

Wait...how were the Flashpoint games crap? I found them to be super well-done, accurate, and tried very hard to instill a sense of realism into the FPS genre. I prefer that to the so absolutely fake COD franchise that has kids thinking war is fast and just run and gun. The Flashpoint games forced you to think and plan tactically, and move methodically to your objective.

Seems like that takes alot of work. I actually think they haven't "cranked out" the series. It's usually a long wait.

Just my two cents.

[FreedomEclipse]

Heres an update on the situation....


THQ’s franchises and studios to be auctioned off on a “title by title” basis

which means that any current project they are working on including the much awaited Metro:Last Light will most likely be delayed until further notice and possibly may not even see the light of day unless its from a different publisher

[OneMoar]

THQ has ruined many a promising franchise I am not sorry to see them go

[FordGT90Concept]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

Heres an update on the situation....


THQ’s franchises and studios to be auctioned off on a “title by title” basis

which means that any current project they are working on including the much awaited Metro:Last Light will most likely be delayed until further notice and possibly may not even see the light of day unless its from a different publisher

If they are sold, there's a very good chance it will eventually be published. You don't buy a property unless you intend to get a return on investment for it.

[AsRock]

Originally Posted by xenocide

I would not be surprised if they sold they sold Homefront 2--since Crytek is attached to it--and got top dollar. The first one didn't sell bad, it was just a let down in the CoD-era market.

Shame to as i found it much more fun than any COD game for a long time now, in fact the only COD game i enjoyed was the 1st one lol.

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by FordGT90Concept

If they are sold, there's a very good chance it will eventually be published. You don't buy a property unless you intend to get a return on investment for it.

keyword being 'eventually'

alternative keyword being 'Duke Nukem Forever'

[RCoon]

Shame, my favourite developer. Huge and repetative fan of the Warhammer 40k, metro, stalker and darksiders series.

[FordGT90Concept]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

keyword being 'eventually'

alternative keyword being 'Duke Nukem Forever'

All these studios are already working on projects. They can't work on another title until their current project is done. The reason why DNF took forever is because they refused to sell until a few years back. It was constantly underfunded and no one knew who actually had the rights to it. It was a giant legal mess until Gearbox bought it.

[Kreij]

There are several vultures circling around the THQ assets. They include Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. and the latest addition being Double Fine. There is no indication as to what these publishers are looking to buy as the IP is not the only thing up for auction. There are studios and one would assume other assets like hardware (workstations, servers, etc.).

The only reason someone would buy an IP and kill it would be to eliminate any perceived competition or to nab artwork that has copyrights attached for use in their own IP. Quite possible this could happen as it has occurred in the past when someone snagged a company.

It will be very interesting to see where all the assets end up.
You, or course, would know this if you read NPU (another cheap plug).

[OneMoar]

Originally Posted by RCoon

Shame, my favourite developer. Huge and repetative fan of the Warhammer 40k, metro, stalker and darksiders series.

publishers are one the ones responsible for milking decent games untill there worth nothing
publishers are the ones responsible for bad console ports and buggy games
publishers are the ones responsible for annoying DRM
publisher != developer
Developers are the ones that spend untold hours in front of lines of code only to be tould to scrap 80% of it and start over
developers are the ones that die a little on the inside when unfinished code walks out the door because some n00b in a suite thinks its ready and its not
Developers are the ones that get paid ONCE and make nothing after the game is out
Developers are the ones that need to work extra hours to implement bad drm into relatively good code
Developers are the ones that suffer when the community goes to the publisher demanding blood and the developer studios are feed to the beast to quell it
so yea you can keep your filthy "publishers"

[Kreij]

Originally Posted by OneMoar

publishers are one the ones responsible for milking decent games untill there worth nothing
publishers are the ones responsible for bad console ports and buggy games
publishers are the ones responsible for annoying DRM
publisher != developer
Developers are the ones that spend untold hours in front of lines of code only to be tould to scrap 80% of it and start over
developers are the ones that die a little on the inside when unfinished code walks out the door because some n00b in a suite thinks its ready and its not
Developers are the ones that get paid ONCE and make nothing after the game is out
Developers are the ones that need to work extra hours to implement bad drm into relatively good code
Developers are the ones that suffer when the community goes to the publisher demanding blood and the developer studios are feed to the beast to quell it
so yea you can keep your filthy "publishers"

This post is filled with misconceptions, inaccurate assessment, half truths and wild generalizations that paint all publishers into the same picture when the is not the case at all.

While there are problems with some publishers I would recommend doing a little research on the realities of game development and the game industry in general.

[OneMoar]

Originally Posted by Kreij

This post is filled with misconceptions, inaccurate assessment, half truths and wild generalizations that paint all publishers into the same picture when the is not the case at all.

While there are problems with some publishers I would recommend doing a little research on the realities of game development and the game industry in general.

all publishers are evil
death to all publishers

[xenocide]

Publishers are the gaming industries equivalent of Record Labels. Neither are organizations I particularly like, but they do serve a purpose. In gaming, they are arguably a lot more important, because getting the funding for a project is so hard otherwise (and don't try and sell me on that Kickstarter crap, how many of those projects have come out and weren't let downs?) and the marketing if done correctly helps a lot.

I think the problem is that Publishers don't care if a game is fun, or interesting, or innovative, as long as it sells as many copies as imaginable. Where as Developers put their reputations on the line with each game, Publishers have no issue if a specific game doesn't sell as long as they can recoup the losses elsewhere. A major problem is that Publishers own all the IP Rights to most games, so they end up with a lot of bargaining power when it comes to what goes into the games. An ideal publisher would leave the developers to their own devices and concentrate on marketing and shipping the game.

[kn00tcn]

sometimes there are pseudo publishing deals that leave the dev a little more freedom, technically crytek is part of EA partners isnt it? how about shank, gatling gears, bulletstorm, etc

[illli]

i dunno. i thought that list described EA pretty accurately

[FordGT90Concept]

Originally Posted by kn00tcn

sometimes there are pseudo publishing deals that leave the dev a little more freedom, technically crytek is part of EA partners isnt it? how about shank, gatling gears, bulletstorm, etc

They are developed by independent studios and published by EA. Unfortunately, THQ is selling studios so there's no chance of that happening here unless private individuals are at the auction (like Chris Schilling) with capital to make the studio run on its own.

[yogurt_21]

based on past history one thing is clear, if titles are bought they will be more expensive for us to purchase.

pretty much anything Activision or EA has purchased has become more expensive to buy. I'm quite glad I picked up that THQ pack on steam.

metro last light might be one of those titles that gets picked up, if it does expect a 60$+ launch that might not get cheaper and will be full of holes that you must buy dlc to fill.

Sad really because THQ only really had cosmetic dlc.