THQ Simultaneously Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Secures Buyer for Company's Assets [UPDATED]

@jta04: Delayed reply, not been on the 'bomb for a bit. But thanks that was exactly what I wanted to know. So basically if I understand you right these Clearlake guys have come along and said to the creditors that we will pay 60mil for THQ and give you (the creditors) 10mil if you let THQ go Chap11 and renegociate the debt (the details of which I guess are not known.

I suppose to the creditors its a good deal because they get some money now (is that the $10mil?) and the prospect of more because THQ has been taken over by someone with slightly deeper pockets who might make a better fist of things in the long run as opposed to letting everything go tits up now and having to fight over meagre scraps after the secured people have got theirs?

@Viking_Funeral said:

@cannonballBAM said:

The list of american publishers is dwindling.

American publishers are still dominating market sales right now.

Call of Duty and Madden go a long way apparently.

Man, this has been such a tough year on game developers and studios. First 38 Studios, massive layoffs all over other developers and now THQ. Wow, this really sucks. I hope they can reorganize and keep their developers employed.

This doesn't surprise me at all. If their track record of releasing broken games like the WWF/WWE franchise shows it's no wonder they aren't doing well financially. Maybe it means people have wised up and don't buy into their sub-par mediocre product anymore? Release a WWE game that works online and isn't plagued with lag and you might be more successful. When I see THQ on a game, it usually means I'm in for a decent game with some good ideas but some game breaking issues that will have me quit playing it and trade it in shortly. I usually avoid anything by THQ altogether.

I hope in ten years the *new* THQ is laughing and saying, "Wow that was close, but it all worked out. We kept our people working, we went on to make/published some sick games, and it all worked out for the best."

Other developers (or publishers) I would care less about. But, it seems like THQ just got knee-capped by the uDraw and then could not recover fast enough to keep ahead of debt. Sure, it was their choice and uDraw was dumb idea for teh other consoles. Yet, I can understand it how that choice could have been made. In the end I just would hope people keep their jobs and things can turn around.

Stay classy with your zingers, Alex.

this is not a done deal, a "stalking horse" makes it more likely but the court still has to agree that there is not a better option for the creditors.

Damn, was kind of hoping Rubin could save this company.

@Napalm said:

@FMinus said:

Figure of speech, meaning - [Relic is] the best thing THQ has and should be handled that way.

I always find it funny when somebody puts one developer under THQ on a pedestal and goes, "nah, man, these guys will SAVE THQ! No man, you're not listening! These guys can DO IT!"

And they continue to name off a franchise or series that like twelve people played and say that's how it'll be done. *makes farty noise with tongue*

Way to put words in my mouth.

I'm not saying Relic will save THQ, I'm just hoping Relic doesn't end up gone in the whole process that THQ is going through. Out of all the studios under THQ, Relic is the one that makes games that I like the most and so far they haven't disappointed. Volitions Freespace was great, Red Faction and Saints Row I can do without, same for Darksiders and Vigil, altho I wish all of them the best possible scenario. That said, back to your argument, I think Relic nets THQ the most cash out of all studios. 40k has a lot of fans, and Relic is the de-facto Warhammer 40k developer, CoH sold a ton, so did Homeworld, they are highly regarded among the RTS community and if we would to lose Relic, it would be a tragedy on the scale of losing Rockstar or Epic.

Also I think most if not all Relic games were profitable, doesn't mean its games alone can save THQ. It's the same deal with GM and Opel. Opel selling quite fine over here in Europe, but is being dragged down by GMs other manufacturers and bad numbers, thus getting closed.

Saints Row is all that matters. Save it, world... pay no heed to the cost.

@Napalm said:

@admanb said:

@Napalm said:

@FMinus said:

Figure of speech, meaning - [Relic is] the best thing THQ has and should be handled that way.

I always find it funny when somebody puts one developer under THQ on a pedestal and goes, "nah, man, these guys will SAVE THQ! No man, you're not listening! These guys can DO IT!"

And they continue to name off a franchise or series that like twelve people played and say that's how it'll be done. *makes farty noise with tongue*

It's more that they're studios that make quality, profitable games. They just don't make games profitable enough to cover THQ's disasters.

From what I understand, it was uDraw that basically sunk them.

I've purchased 2 sets.. I might pick up more. Who knows what they'll be worth sealed one day... :/ Probably $5? maybe..

Thank god THQ is owned by the group that also owns the Jacuzzi brand and Buy.com. A good sign, due to the turnaround success of these brands.

@warley said:

Fifth!

This post best reflects my feelings on this matter.

@cannonballBAM said:

The list of american publishers is dwindling.

EA, Activision, Take-Two, Microsoft, Valve... oh, and THQ. They're still around. And that's just the big boys.

Honestly, for better or worse, American publishers are still dominating market sales right now.

@admanb said:

@Napalm said:

@FMinus said:

Figure of speech, meaning - [Relic is] the best thing THQ has and should be handled that way.

I always find it funny when somebody puts one developer under THQ on a pedestal and goes, "nah, man, these guys will SAVE THQ! No man, you're not listening! These guys can DO IT!"

And they continue to name off a franchise or series that like twelve people played and say that's how it'll be done. *makes farty noise with tongue*

It's more that they're studios that make quality, profitable games. They just don't make games profitable enough to cover THQ's disasters.

From what I understand, it was uDraw that basically sunk them.

@Napalm said:

@FMinus said:

Figure of speech, meaning - [Relic is] the best thing THQ has and should be handled that way.

I always find it funny when somebody puts one developer under THQ on a pedestal and goes, "nah, man, these guys will SAVE THQ! No man, you're not listening! These guys can DO IT!"

And they continue to name off a franchise or series that like twelve people played and say that's how it'll be done. *makes farty noise with tongue*

It's more that they're studios that make quality, profitable games. They just don't make games profitable enough to cover THQ's disasters.

@SteveR667 said:

So the creditors get screwed over, that's great. I wonder how much tax they owe that has been wrote off.

This isn't how bankruptcy is supposed to work. Are companies under any obligation to try and resolve issues with their creditors before filling for chapter 11?

Technically yes, since actually getting the reorganization plan approved requires the consent of the creditors in the first place. So chances are that most, if not all, of THQ's creditors were OK with the company filing Chapter 11 and having time to restructure.

It doesn't magically make their debt disappear, it just forestalls any attempts to collect that debt and allows the company time to regroup. At least that's how I understand it, I'm not an expert by any means.

So the creditors get screwed over, that's great. I wonder how much tax they owe that has been wrote off.

This isn't how bankruptcy is supposed to work. Are companies under any obligation to try and resolve issues with their creditors before filling for chapter 11?

Thanks UDraw

Okay, okay... I'm on board with the "this may just be THQs saving move" bandwagon. Lord knows they need it, and man does their next year or so of games look too good for them to just vanish.

@FMinus said:

Figure of speech, meaning - [Relic is] the best thing THQ has and should be handled that way.

I always find it funny when somebody puts one developer under THQ on a pedestal and goes, "nah, man, these guys will SAVE THQ! No man, you're not listening! These guys can DO IT!"

And they continue to name off a franchise or series that like twelve people played and say that's how it'll be done. *makes farty noise with tongue*

THQ is a good publisher, I hope they do better under new ownership though.

I love a good Alex Navarro article.

@ArtisanBreads said:

@Mr_Skeleton said:

@FMinus said:

Relic alone is worth ten times the 60 million...

So 600 million? I doubt that.

Uh yeah you definitely should doubt that.

Figure of speech, meaning - it's best thing THQ has and should be handled that way.

Well this sucks, but hopefully this creates a much smarter THQ because it's obvious that people weren't doing their jobs correctly. Bad decisions all around. Probably doesn't help that it kinda seems like every team they have is still working on something for quite awhile, what's the last couple games that are finished and actually able to ship and make money on?

Throughout all this my main concern has always been Relic. They are a fantastic studio and went through some shit once before with Sierra. I just want more of their particular brand of games because I've loved every one of them.

Someone better not screw up Company of Heroes 2.

Metro Last Light better get released. Dammit I like THQ, hope this allows them to stay afloat.

Alright, sounds good! Seems like I don't have to worry about Saints Row: the Fourth, South Park, or that new Metro game. THQ has went from being a middling games publisher back in the PS2/Xbox era, and has continually been getting better and better. I'll definitely be buying some of the games they put out, and I wish them all the best from this new acquisition.

whoa nelly!

Sounds like good news to me.

Well, Merry Christmas, I suppose.

I hope this ends up being good news in the end.

I still want that FPS Avengers game =(

Great, they're now owned by financial pirates who will benefit more from the company's failure than its success. I wouldn't hang my hat on their recovery.

Man this is mega depressing news. THQ deserves better than this considering they have a great lineup of games that should have been more sucessful. I would have thought that saints row 3's success would have been enough to hold them. Its wierd that THQ was having so much trouble considering most of their recent games have been quite sucessful with a few exceptions like red faction armageddon and homefront (which I thought acually sold quite well). I guess they really did themselves in with that piece of shit U-draw tablet.

I hope the new owners will turn things around financially without slowly ruining the games like EA has done. Heres hoping a company like Valve(could totally happen) picks them up instead.

Get out of here Stalker.
 
No, but seriously, I'm glad things aren't as completely fucked as they could be.

I don't know why but this really sucks. I guess maybe its because these days they publish decent to great games (even though in the past they kind of just made middling to shit games). 
60 million dollars is a real bummer deal. Like, really? No one thinks any of their IPs are worth anything?

Hopefully next year is a big hit for them, then maybe they can get through this. It is nice to think they have a chance to even sort get out of the mess they're in. It always sucks to see huge debt numbers like that for anyone.

This seems really shitty on the surface but it's much better to do what needs to be done now, while they still have control rather than keep going ass they have for the past few years. I'm glad to see (in mybusiness ignorant eyes) a sensible move like this in the face of so many closures.

Sounds like THQ did what they had to do. 60 million seems like a very small number though.

Hopefully some of these devs find a more stable home at some point, especially Relic.

"the company made it clear that it has every intention of continuing development on its upcoming suite of games, including the likes of Metro: Last Light and South Park: The Stick of Truth."

Exactly as planned.

@Mr_Skeleton said:

@FMinus said:

Relic alone is worth ten times the 60 million...

So 600 million? I doubt that.

Uh yeah you definitely should doubt that.

wonder how much they made off that humble bundle....

It felt inevitable, really. I hope jobs can be spared and the games I'm looking forward to from them continue on in good hands.

@FMinus said:

Relic alone is worth ten times the 60 million...

So 600 million? I doubt that.

Save Relic! If they have to go, I hope they actually go to... SEGA. How weird is that.

Relic alone is worth ten times the 60 million...

Man, I would have been bummed if Metro: Last Light was cancelled...I've been waiting for that game for far too long for it to just disappear...so I'm very selfishly pleased to hear that this will not affect its development.

@RonnieBarzel said:

With a new owner, will this mean Jason Rubin will be leaving the company? I'm not an economics major, but it would make sense to me that a new owner would want to install its own people.

Not really. It's not the fraternity culture you seem to think it is. If he is thought to be doing a poor job, they look for a suitable replacement, not their "own people." And I think it's a bit early to say anything about Rubin's performance. It may be that he was a part of making sure this deal happened. Hard to know.