THQ's long list of creditors are seeking an estimated $200 million from the bankrupt publisher, according to a filing with the Bancrupcty Court of Delaware.
THQ's long list of creditors are seeking an estimated $200 million from the bankrupt publisher, according to a filing with the Bancrupcty Court of Delaware.
A new filing from bankrupt publisher THQ reveals details on the last franchises that were not sold separately as part of THQ's big asset auction earlier this year. Nordic Games has secured the rights to Darksiders and Red Faction, while (as we mentioned yesterday) Gearbox snapped up Homeworld.
The new CEO of Crytek USA David Adams says that he wants to buy the Darksiders franchise from THQ. Writing on Twitter, Adams said the IP should stay with its makers. Adams co-founded Darksiders makers Vigil Games.
Speaking to Polygon Double Fine expressed its desire to reacquire the console publishing rights to two of its games buried in a lot of intellectual property to be sold off as part of an auction related to THQ's bankruptcy. Double Fine owns the IP for Stacking and Costume Quest and the rights to publish the games on the PC platform, but THQ holds limited rights to publish both games on consoles.
THQ announced that it will auction off the remaining assets it didn't manage to sell as part of its bankruptcy. The company hopes to sell the remainder of its intellectual properties by mid-May. Initial bids must be submitted by April 1, with final bids required by April 15. Last month, the bankruptcy court approved the sales of three of THQ's studios and games in development, as well as Evolve, a working title under development at Turtle Rock Studios, Homefront 2, Metro: Last Light and South Park: The Stick of Truth.
While it won't come as any shock, THQ has filed a FORM 8-K with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("Item 5.02 - Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers") that it sacked its top executives on January 30, 2013. Given that the company was sold off to various bidders in bits and pieces in an auction in late January, it makes sense that they would inevitably have to let their executives go into the wild. The online filing reads as follows:
Eurogamer reports that indie developer teamPixel has launched a crowdfunding appeal on Indiegogo to purchase the rights to THQ's cult classic space strategy series Homeworld. While Sega now owns the studio that originally made the game, team Pixel hopes that it can raise some funds to secure the original game and re-release it on Steam and Good Old Games.
Last night we detailed what assets THQ sold off as part of its auction to generate enough cash to pay down some of its debt, and today we know just how much. The information comes from THQ's filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The court has approved the sale of the assets, but the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case will continue as the former top-three publisher figures out what to do with its remaining assets.
Update: THQ has sold the WWE game license to Take-Two, according to IGN.
While THQ is going through an auction today to decide what happens with its various assets, one of those asset partners says that it is not part of the deal. Filing a formal complaint with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Delaware, South Park Digital Studios said that South Park: The Stick of Truth cannot be sold off to a new owner without the studio's approval, because of stipulations in the contract it signed with THQ.
It looks like the sale of THQ could be settled as soon as Jan. 23. Yesterday the company received approval from the Delaware Bankruptcy Court to sell off its assets. After a committee of unsecured creditors and potential buyers sat down and hashed out an agreement the court gave the company the greenlight to sell of its assets.
Update: GamesIndustry International is reporting that Electronic Arts has been revealed as one of the five publishers looking to buy intellectual property or other assets from THQ. Some are also speculating that Ubisoft could be part of that group too.
While THQ would like nothing better than to hand off all of its assets to Clearlake Capital Group for $60 million, several creditors have voiced their opposition to the company's bankruptcy and takeover plans, calling them "unfair and unreasonable." The troubled publisher filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month and asked the court to approve a take-over of the company by investment firm Clearlake "within 30 days."
In what can only be described as the first non-shocking news story of 2013, THQ announced that it was delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange over the Christmas holiday period. The company's stock will now be traded on the OTC (over-the-counter) Markets - at least until Chapter 11 bankruptcy has been sorted out.
According to an MCV report, Ubisoft is considering buying troubled games publisher THQ. Earlier in the week the publisher announced that it had filed for bankruptcy and would be sold to Clearlake investments. This 'stalking horse bid' process with the investor allows THQ to write off the company's debts but keeps its business going to make it ready for an acquisition. According to MCV one of the companies that might be interested in buying THQ is Ubisoft.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) issued a very brief statement this week noting that it is paying very close attention to game publisher THQ's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and its plan to sell the company to an investment firm. THQ announced yesterday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the U.S.
Publisher THQ announced today that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and has entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with affiliates of Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., who will serve as a "stalking horse bidder," the agreement allows Clearlake Capital Group to acquire THQ’s assets including THQ’s four wholly-owned studios, any licenses it currently holds, and all games in development.
On the heels of generating over $5 million from the Humble THQ Bundle, THQ says that it is evaluating various options for making more of its PC games Linux friendly. One of the biggest complaints against this particular bundle was that it was Windows-only. THQ now says that it is evaluating the costs and benefits of Linux, following consumer feedback on the Humble THQ Bundle.
With just one hour remaining before close, the Humble THQ Bundle has managed to break the $5 million mark off the sale of almost 870,000 bundles. The average price paid for this Windows-only pay-what-you-want bundle currently sits at $5.67. In case you missed previous stories on this particular bundle, the Humble THQ Bundle contains Red Faction: Armageddon, Darksiders, Metro 2033, Company of Heroes, Company of Heroes Opposing Fronts, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor, Saints Row The Third, and several game soundtracks.
The Humble THQ Bundle has added a little bonus content to further encourage gamers to pick up the Windows-only pay-what-you want collection of THQ games. The new additions are the Diablo-like action RPG Titan Quest from bankrupted Iron Lore Studios and the Red Faction: Armageddon DLC pack, Path of War.
In Episode 31 of the Super Podcast Action Committee hosts Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight discuss if the gender and race of a main character matters, the Humble THQ Bundle, the importance of play-testing, more Uplay woes, DRM, and other forms of tomfoolery. Download it now: SuperPAC Episode 31 (1 hour, 14 minutes) 68 MB.
Only a day after being offered, the Humble THQ Bundle has managed to garner $2.38 million in sales (and climbing even as we write this). The pay-what-you-want THQ bundle managed to do this despite the fact that it doesn't offer Mac and Linux versions of the game (which many are not happy about). Nevertheless, the sale shows that big publishers can get in on the action and make some cash.
The latest Humble Bundle might not have the indie spirit you usually expect from the pay-what-you-want bundler, but it sure does offer a lot of great games. The Humble THQ Bundle is offering Darksiders, Company of Heroes, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor, Metro 2033, Red Faction: Armageddon, and Saints Row: The Third (if you pay over the average price).
The transition to the next generation of consoles will not be without a few casualties, says Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.
"If you're not capitalized for the transition, you can find out that you're not there for the transition. And historically, in every transition that's occurred in this business, one or two third-parties have gone out of business."
Last night THQ announced that it had entered into a forbearance deal with Wells Fargo, who represents the company's creditors. The deal protects the troubled publisher from any possible legal action from missing payments related to outstanding debt - at least until January 15. The deal also includes provisions that allow the company to get additional funding at a later date, though specifics on that were not disclosed because that part is still being negotiated.
In an interview with NowGamer, chief technical officer at Metro: Last Light developer 4A Oles Shishkovtsov said probably the most disparaging thing you can say about a brand new console: it has no power. When asked if the new game would be on the Wii U, Shishkovtsov said that it was not possible because Wii U's processor was "horrible and slow." Not exactly what the folks at Nintendo headquarters want a developer to say...
Over the weekend Joystiq reported about an interesting lawsuit filed against THQ by a tattoo artist named Chris Escobedo. Escobedo alleges in his lawsuit filed against THQ for using a tattoo he designed for MMA fighter Carlos Condit. Condit's likeness appeared - with the tattoo designed by Escobedo - in THQ's UFC Undisputed 2010 and UFC Undisputed 3.
Following yesterday's poor financial results for the fiscal second quarter, THQ had delayed several titles and has an outside firm to explore its options. The titles getting pushed included South Park: The Stick of Truth, Metro: Last Light and Company of Heroes 2. THQ recorded a loss of $21 million during its fiscal 2013 second quarter on sales of $107.4 million. The company says that it has about $36.3 million of cash and equivalents, down nearly half from the $76 million it had a year ago.
While THQ's Darksiders II has sold an estimated 1 million copies so far, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter says that the game is having a very hard time making it past the 2 million milestone it needs to reach for THQ to break even on the title.
"Darksiders II's performance and a history of game delays and cancelations leaves us skeptical that THQ can successfully execute its turnaround strategy, which centers on a streamlined release slate," says Pachter.