It’s funny, we at Geekosystem have covered developments regarding THQ twice this month, the first being their Humble Bundle offering — which reportedly raked in $5 million in a matter of two weeks — and the Metro 2033 Facebook promotion where users could snag a free copy just for “liking” the page, but the whole time we did so, we couldn’t help feel that these were ill portents of THQ’s gradual decline in the marketplace. Turns out our intuition was right since the video game publisher has announced it will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On the surface this seems like terrible news, but it actually isn’t an utter loss for us gamers.
THQ has entered in an Asset Purchase Agreement with a company known as Clearlake Capital Group, which is interested in purchasing the video game publisher’s development studios and any and all games that are currently in development. Basically, this means that highly anticipated games such as Metro: Last Light, Company of Heroes 2, and South Park: The Stick of Truth won’t be falling off the face of the Earth and into the black abyss of development limbo.
No longer operating as an autonomous company under this agreement, THQ will instead go forward under the auspices of Clearlake Capital Group. Sources say that the company’s regular day-to-day business will continue unhindered, retaining their original staff and keeping the doors of their development studios open.
THQ may be down, but it’s certainly far from out, as company president Jason Rubin explains:
We have incredible, creative talent here at THQ. We look forward to partnering with experienced investors for a new start as we will continue to use our intellectual property assets to develop high-quality core games, create new franchise titles, and drive demand through both traditional and digital channels.
Hey, as long as we’re still getting the games THQ has long promised, there’s really no reason for the video game community to go sticking their heads in the sand, since it’s unwarranted and is more painful than it sounds.
(Yahoo! Finance via Eurogamer, image via THQ Insider)
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Published: Dec 20, 2012 11:20 am