THQ is no more.
The publisher, which found itself on the wrong end of a bankruptcy-induced auction yesterday, will dissolve as soon as its bankruptcy hearing and subsequent sales transitions are completed. Confirmation of this news comes in the form of a letter sent to THQ employees today, which was obtained by Kotaku. According to the letter:
- Ubisoft has purchased the rights to THQ's Montreal Studio, and South Park: The Stick of Truth. There is no immediate word on how this purchase will be affected by South Park Studios' lawsuit to prevent their property from being included in this sale. Also of note is the fact that Patrice Desilets, the former Assassin's Creed creative director who left Ubisoft to pursue new opportunities at THQ, is now back with his former publisher for at least the moment.
- Koch Media, the parent company of Dead Island publisher Deep Silver, has purchased Volition Inc. and the Saints Row brand, as well as the Metro franchise.
- Sega will be taking control of Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment.
- Crytek has purchased the rights to the Homefront franchise for some reason.
- Take-Two Interactive takes over Turtle Rock Studios' Evolve.
That leaves a few properties and studios unaccounted for, most notably Darksiders developers Vigil Games, as well as the company's long-held WWE license. The letter outlines that THQ will be making every effort to find buyers for the remaining properties. However, outside of a skeleton crew remaining to help with the transition, THQ's primary staff is apparently being laid off.
We'll update this story as more information becomes available.
Update: DDInvesting, who has been covering the THQ hearings with great regularity, has posted the prices apparently paid for the individual properties. They are as follows:
- $500k Homefront (Crytek)
- $26M for Relic (Sega)
- $2.5M for THQ Montreal (Ubisoft)
- $3.2M for South Park (Ubisoft)
- $11M for Evolve (Take-Two)
- $22.3M for Volition (Koch Media)
- $5.8M for Metro (Koch Media)
Update 2: Both Ubisoft and Koch Media have sent out press releases confirming the purchases. Koch provided few concrete details, except to say that its publishing arm Deep Silver would be at the head for continued development in the Metro and Saints Row franchises, and that more details on each franchise would be coming in the next few months. As for Ubisoft, its press release simply confirms the aforementioned purchases, but does at least note that South Park: The Stick of Truth is still scheduled for release this year.
Elsewhere, IGN is reporting that Take-Two Interactive has stepped up to take control of the WWE game license. We've sent a confirmation request to Take-Two's representatives and will update with a response if we receive one.