Warning Sign #183: THQ Threatened With NASDAQ Delisting

Awe man and they have had some real cool games lately too =(

@Kevin_Cogneto said:

@Demoskinos said:

Man. I don't want THQ to go under.... No more saints row! =(

@Arker101 said:

So much for Saints Row 4.

Yup, because we all know that was the end of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam when Midway Games went under.

it would still dismantle the dev team and take years to reform them at another studio, if at all. And who says some of them don't cut losses to go join another company after the success of SR3?

@Nymphonomicon said:

"The Company" "The Rule"

I was not aware the Crackdown Naming Committee had law degrees...

Your stock price has fallen below the minimum threshold, Agent.

When's Darksiders 2 out? if that's soon then they should be okay to stay in the NASDAQ's.

EDIT: Nearest I can find to actual release date info is that it's either been pushed back to being released in Q2 of 2012, or it was originally being released in Q2 2012 and it's been pushed back since that release date announcement.

Really sucks, I may not like all of their videogame offerings but they do release some truly awesome games.

@Zabant said:

@Kevin_Cogneto said:

@Demoskinos said:

Man. I don't want THQ to go under.... No more saints row! =(

@Arker101 said:

So much for Saints Row 4.

Yup, because we all know that was the end of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam when Midway Games went under.

it would still dismantle the dev team and take years to reform them at another studio, if at all. And who says some of them don't cut losses to go join another company after the success of SR3?

I could be confused but wasn't THQ just the publisher. Isn't Saint's Row a Volition joint and they would still be able to develop it if they found another publisher?

I would be terrible to see THQ go under. It would be a very harrowing sign if a major video game publisher goes under. But, at the same time, would love to see someone else get the WWE license.

@Zabant said:

@Kevin_Cogneto said:

@Demoskinos said:

Man. I don't want THQ to go under.... No more saints row! =(

@Arker101 said:

So much for Saints Row 4.

Yup, because we all know that was the end of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam when Midway Games went under.

it would still dismantle the dev team and take years to reform them at another studio, if at all. And who says some of them don't cut losses to go join another company after the success of SR3?

If anything is to happen to THQ, Volition will be the first studio (and possibly only) to make it out alive. They're made enough quality games to easily get picked up by, say, EA or Square/Eidos immediately after the company closes doors.

If they brought back WCW/NWO Revenge, all if their problems would be solved. That game would print money.

I hope this doesn't have too much of an impact on Relic and the Dawn of War series.

Get well soon, THQ.

@Zabant said:

@Kevin_Cogneto said:

@Demoskinos said:

Man. I don't want THQ to go under.... No more saints row! =(

@Arker101 said:

So much for Saints Row 4.

Yup, because we all know that was the end of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam when Midway Games went under.

it would still dismantle the dev team and take years to reform them at another studio, if at all. And who says some of them don't cut losses to go join another company after the success of SR3?

If anything is to happen to THQ, Volition will be the first studio (and possibly only) to make it out alive. They're made enough quality games to easily get picked up by, say, EA or Square/Eidos immediately after the company closes doors.

@Slaker117 said:

@aurahack said:

@Zabant said:

@Kevin_Cogneto said:

@Demoskinos said:

Man. I don't want THQ to go under.... No more saints row! =(

@Arker101 said:

So much for Saints Row 4.

Yup, because we all know that was the end of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam when Midway Games went under.

it would still dismantle the dev team and take years to reform them at another studio, if at all. And who says some of them don't cut losses to go join another company after the success of SR3?

If anything is to happen to THQ, Volition will be the first studio (and possibly only) to make it out alive. They're made enough quality games to easily get picked up by, say, EA or Square/Eidos immediately after the company closes doors.

I'd imagine Relic would make it out fine as well.

Yeah, I reckon both Relic and Volition are going to be part of a bit of a bidding war from the big developers. Especially Volition after the success of Saints Row The Third.

They'll go under eventually. First they'll get delisted, then they'll liquidate assets to other (dare I say more competent) publishers to stay afloat, then they'll have to liquidate more and more, getting up to selling off whole studios, until they're eventually a shell with no egg inside. Getting delisted doesn't mean the end, but it's a damn good sign that they are in serious trouble in a competitive industry that is always seeming to push boundaries forward.

Truth be told though I don't have a whole hell of a lot of sympathy for them. For years they shoveled out wrestling game after wrestling game without changing anything. Hell they didn't even change the commentary for how many damn years. Yeah sure that's Yukes' fault, but they published it and put it out there instead of stopping it and saying no. The fact that Saints Row The Third had a better wrestling game in it than their flagship wrestling game is pretty absurd.

That said though I feel for the people, particularly the ones with talent, that will be out of work. The men upstairs in the suits will be fine because they'll find some way to weasel out with a small fortune to keep them set for life, but the programmers and creative artists are the ones that I feel for.

Nows the time to buy

Wait, I know this. Take a loan to buy back your stock and then cut out all unprofitable trains. Be sure to invest your personal cash in the company before buying back the stock though. Just in case.

Quick, everyone buy stock in THQ!

Shame, they released some really solid games last year, and I'm looking forward to this year's lineup.

THQ had maybe the strongest year in this console generation in 2011 and still they aren't doing well =(

just to clarify. being delisted DOES NOT mean you are finished, it actually has no real impact on the day to day operations of the company, it is just a stark reminder of how much value this company has shed over the last 2 years, and that a takeover is reasonably likely.

I hope Square-Enix buys them.

@EoinMason said:

@Slaker117 said:

@aurahack said:

@Zabant said:

@Kevin_Cogneto said:

@Demoskinos said:

Man. I don't want THQ to go under.... No more saints row! =(

@Arker101 said:

So much for Saints Row 4.

Yup, because we all know that was the end of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam when Midway Games went under.

it would still dismantle the dev team and take years to reform them at another studio, if at all. And who says some of them don't cut losses to go join another company after the success of SR3?

If anything is to happen to THQ, Volition will be the first studio (and possibly only) to make it out alive. They're made enough quality games to easily get picked up by, say, EA or Square/Eidos immediately after the company closes doors.

I'd imagine Relic would make it out fine as well.

Yeah, I reckon both Relic and Volition are going to be part of a bit of a bidding war from the big developers. Especially Volition after the success of Saints Row The Third.

Derp! Completely forgot about Relic. While I am not sure what publisher would pick them up, I am sure they'd make it out just fine as well. Both studios have a plenty good chance of making it.

Yuke's, on the other hand...

As a guy jumping into stocks recently - I am a noobie - this bodes terrible for THQ. I really hope they can get their above water as it is never good to see jobs like these be lost, especially in an industry where there is no real reason other than lack of financial stability.

@aurahack said:

@EoinMason said:

@Slaker117 said:

@aurahack said:

@Zabant said:

@Kevin_Cogneto said:

@Demoskinos said:

Man. I don't want THQ to go under.... No more saints row! =(

@Arker101 said:

So much for Saints Row 4.

Yup, because we all know that was the end of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam when Midway Games went under.

it would still dismantle the dev team and take years to reform them at another studio, if at all. And who says some of them don't cut losses to go join another company after the success of SR3?

If anything is to happen to THQ, Volition will be the first studio (and possibly only) to make it out alive. They're made enough quality games to easily get picked up by, say, EA or Square/Eidos immediately after the company closes doors.

I'd imagine Relic would make it out fine as well.

Yeah, I reckon both Relic and Volition are going to be part of a bit of a bidding war from the big developers. Especially Volition after the success of Saints Row The Third.

Derp! Completely forgot about Relic. While I am not sure what publisher would pick them up, I am sure they'd make it out just fine as well. Both studios have a plenty good chance of making it.

Yuke's, on the other hand...

Yuke's are actually richer then people think they are. Considering they just sold New Japan Pro Wrestling, they are a bit well off. If THQ goes down, I'd say they'll still be doing something.

This is all the more reason I'm buying stock in them. I want to help this company (in some small monetary form since I'm mostly broke) and see them come back.

@Zabant said:

@Kevin_Cogneto said:

@Demoskinos said:

Man. I don't want THQ to go under.... No more saints row! =(

@Arker101 said:

So much for Saints Row 4.

Yup, because we all know that was the end of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam when Midway Games went under.

it would still dismantle the dev team and take years to reform them at another studio, if at all. And who says some of them don't cut losses to go join another company after the success of SR3?

If anything is to happen to THQ, Volition will be the first studio (and possibly only) to make it out alive. They're made enough quality games to easily get picked up by, say, EA or Square/Eidos immediately after the company closes doors.

I worked for a newspaper during a time when our parent company's stock plummeted and we were bought out by Rupert Murdoch. For a while we weren't sure if our chain would be sold off as a unit or split up. Eventually they held on to us because it was just cheaper and didn't require as many lawyers to ignore us. We had a buttload of layoffs at the editorial level to make us "more profitable," and most the top executive types were canned with the regime change, but we continued to produce content. I'm not sure if the corporate structure of the video game industry is similar to that of newspapers but that was my experience going through a dire financial situation at a large media company as an peon editorial guy.

THQ shouldn't be a public company anymore. I say go ahead and delist yourself so you can try and recover THQ.

You guys, we have to save the rec center!

Space Marine was decent, Retribution was great, and SW3 was amazing. Plus Darksiders was great as well. Oh and All Stars.

I WANT DS2 AND SW4 NAOW!

@siln said:

You guys, we have to save the rec center!

you thinking what i'm thinking? a breakdancing benefit show!

the man hasn't won yet.

Eidos buy Volition = Volition/Avalanche team up = Saints Row 4 GOTY by default

Man, who'da thought THQ would go under this year?

I mean-- a lot of people, probably, but not me!

man... someone please buy Volition, Relic, and Vigil game studios! they don't need to go under with THQ!

Such a shame to see THQ slowly fall apart. They've put out some really great content in the last few years. I wonder what's causing them so much trouble. I'd love to see someone write a breakdown of how exactly they fell apart.

@Marz said:

man... someone please buy Volition, Relic, and Vigil game studios! they don't need to go under with THQ!

If I don't see a new Dawn of War game from Relic because of this, I will be a sad panda...

I have no idea how all of this works, but I assume it's not good for THQ. The thing I would like to know is : how did it come to this ? Why is THQ in such trouble ?

Eidos buy Volition = Volition/Avalanche team up = Saints Row 4 GOTY by default

I blame that Twitter dude that scared investors :/

I'm never going to see another Homeworld game, am I.

I know someone who worked at Volition. You know that shit Red Faction game that came out this year. According to my friend, every bad idea that game had (keeping it underground, less destruction) came from the higher-ups at THQ and that Volition's repeated efforts to make a real sequel to the previous RF game (yknow, the good one) were completely ignored or denied.

He has a list of THQ stories that would make your head explode, but its best I don't share them. My point is that THQ has found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory repeatedly. They're screwed and they deserve it.

but but volition and relic :( noooooo

they make some of the most unique games relic for company of heroes, homeworld think company of heroes with space ships, and the warhammer franchise

volition red faction series, saints row they have some other stuff i cant remember

they deserve publishers

@depecheload said:

I know someone who worked at Volition. You know that shit Red Faction game that came out this year. According to my friend, every bad idea that game had (keeping it underground, less destruction) came from the higher-ups at THQ and that Volition's repeated efforts to make a real sequel to the previous RF game (yknow, the good one) were completely ignored or denied.

He has a list of THQ stories that would make your head explode, but its best I don't share them. My point is that THQ has found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory repeatedly. They're screwed and they deserve it.

i knew it guerilla was awesome just needed more polish a sequel to that wouldve been awesome

they wouldve had a free marketing agent wouldve told all my friends to buy it

if they had coop with open world destruction= insta buy

@Lingxor said:

I hope this doesn't have too much of an impact on Relic and the Dawn of War series.

so how do you feel about a "streamlined" Dawn of War with dialogue wheels? hahah I kid, sorry that wasn't funny.

Oh no! But, but I like them.

How do I help?

This confuses me, THQ puts out a lot of good, seemingly profitable games... how can this be? Are they mismanaging their resources?

@SeriouslyNow said:

@selbie said:

Eidos buy Volition = Volition/Avalanche team up = Saints Row 4 GOTY by default

You're probably onto something there.

Courtesy of Ryan (i think) on last week's Bombcast ;)

He know what do...

@Lurkero said:

THQ shouldn't be a public company anymore. I say go ahead and delist yourself so you can try and recover THQ.

I agree. I hope their developers get picked up by a better publisher, however.

@Teran said:

This confuses me, THQ puts out a lot of good, seemingly profitable games... how can this be? Are they mismanaging their resources?

They overpaid for a ton of useless licenses and spend a bunch of money they didn't have to recruit well-known developers (Patrice Desilets, Itakagi, Del Toro) and then bet all their remaining chips on the Udraw tablets that failed so miserably last year.

@Enigma777: Oh... wow. I hadn't even heard of this product before you mentioned it... Not necessarily a terrible idea but definitely not a project you'd want to gamble your companies future on.

Ohhhh jeeeeeezzz that's not good. Now I feel bad for getting space marine 2nd hand.