THQ bankruptcy auction results

[DaveJB]

GameSpot:

THQ is no more. The company will be broken apart and its games sold to at least five different companies, according to a letter sent to employees today from CEO Brian Farrell and president Jason Rubin. Kotaku obtained the letter, which further states THQ is currently presenting its case to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The proposed sale, including sales figures and backup bidders for each, is below.

Relic Entertainment and Company of Heroes franchise
Winning bid: $26.6 million - Sega Corporation
Backup bidder: $26.3 million - Zenimax Media

THQ Montreal, including 1666 and Underdog
Winning bid: $2.5 million - Ubisoft
Backup bidder: None

Evolve aka Metamorphosis
Winning bid: $10.894 million - Take-Two Interactive
Backup bidder: $250,000 - Turtle Rock Studios, Inc.

Volition and Saints Row franchise
Winning bid: $22.3 million - Koch Media
Backup bidder: $5.4 million - Ubisoft

Homefront franchise
Winning bid: $544,218 - Crytek
Backup bidder: None

Metro franchise
Winning bid: $5,877,551 - Koch Media
Backup bidder: $5.175 million - Ubisoft

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Winning bid: $3,265,306 - Ubisoft
Backup bidder: None

The fate of the Darksiders franchise and its developer Vigil Games is unknown. Farrell and Rubin said, "We will make every effort to find appropriate buyers, if possible."

The formal THQ auction document reveals an unannounced game from THQ Montreal called "Underdog." This is in addition to the company's still-unannounced "1666" and could be a working title.

The document also suggests High Voltage Software (The Conduit) is working with Volition Inc. on development on Saints Row 4, though it is not clear in what capacity.

Farrell and Rubin said most employees included in the sale will be offered jobs by their new owners. However, this is not a certainty, and "there will likely be some positions that will not need to be needed under the new ownership," they said.

All employees of a company not included in the sale will be out of a job. A "small number" of staff at THQ headquarters in Agoura Hills, California will remain employed beyond January 25 to assist in the transition.

"While the company will cease to exist, we are heartened that the majority of our studios and games will continue under new ownership," Farrell and Rubin said. "We were hoping that the entire company would remain intact, but we expect to hear good news from each of the separate entities that will be operating as part of new organizations.

"For those THQ employees who are part of entities that are not included in the sale, we are confident that the talent you have displayed as part of THQ will be recognized as you take the next steps in your career," they said.

Separately, THQ bankruptcy representatives told GameSpot today that an official announcement will be made once it has approval from the court and from the company's lawyers. No specific timetable was provided.

Any thoughts on the outcome of this auction? It's kind of surprising that Ubisoft were the only people interested in South Park: The Stick of Truth; I guess the legal spat between South Park Studios and what's left of THQ probably turned off the other bidders. Even more surprising that no-one's picked up the Darksiders franchise, as both games sold around two million copies apiece from what I understand.

Also, ouch for Homefront; only one bid, and it was barely a fifth of what any of the other studios/franchises attracted. And considering how low the bid was and the fact that it ended up in the hands of a European studio, it makes me wonder whether Crytek did the same thing as those jokers who bid on random eBay auctions, and inevitably end up with stuff they didn't actually intend on owning.

[Stark]

Homefront was one of the high-risk, high-cost projects that didn't really help THQ along. It has literally no redeeming market value so I'm surprised anyone bought it at all.

Speaking of which, either the buyers for Company of Heroes got a steal or the guys who bought Saints Row paid way too much.

[Nephtys]

Now we have finally quantified the monetary value of the IPs of Nazis vs that of North Koreans... 50:1

[Stark]

More like the only interesting rts Relic ever made vs an utterly horrible shooter that sank without a trace.

[bilateralrope]

Isn't the goal of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy to get the company solvent again ?
Not to kill it.

It's kind of surprising that Ubisoft were the only people interested in South Park: The Stick of Truth; I guess the legal spat between South Park Studios and what's left of THQ probably turned off the other bidders.

Since the legal spat was South Park Studios saying that the sale couldn't legally include the rights to their IP, I'm more surprised that Ubisoft placed a bid when they can't guarantee they will be able to make use of whatever they bought.

[Stark]

Isn't the goal of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy to get the company solvent again ?

If these amounts can 'fix' THQ, these teams must have been costing the group a lot of money. Their revenues per year have dropped more than the total they just raised, and now their future earnings (you'd imagine) are lower.

[DaveJB]

THQ are going to cease to exist (at least as they are now; someone may buy the brand, though I wouldn't put money on that) at the end of this process, it says as much near the bottom of the article. They likely went into Chapter 11 with the hope of being saved from bankruptcy, but from what I've read elsewhere it sounds like the stupidly huge amounts of money they poured into projects like Homefront and that drawing tablet they made for the PS3 and 360 crippled their finances to the point where there was no real hope of saving them.

[bilateralrope]

Isn't the goal of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy to get the company solvent again ?

If these amounts can 'fix' THQ, these teams must have been costing the group a lot of money. Their revenues per year have dropped more than the total they just raised, and now their future earnings (you'd imagine) are lower.

I can see that these sales have killed THQ. Which is why I asked the question. Especially since the only reason THQ is being split up like this is because the court forced them to split up.

One thing I kept hearing was that if THQ could stay intact until COH2 and/or Metro Last Light released, then they would be able to recover. If that's true, then THQ just needed the court to do something to delay paying those they owed money to. Instead, by ordering THQ to sell off any studios that people wanted to buy, the court guaranteed that THQ would close.
Now, if the projected income from COH2/M:LL sales isn't high enough to save THQ, then THQ should have filed for Chapter 7 instead of Chapter 11.

Even more surprising that no-one's picked up the Darksiders franchise, as both games sold around two million copies apiece from what I understand.

I wonder how many bidders will show up when THQ goes through a second round of auctioning off everything when it's time for the Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

[Stark]

I'm not familiar with American bankruptcy law. What's the difference between the two types of administration? Is it like 'receivership' vs 'liquidation'?

[starslayer]

I'm not familiar with American bankruptcy law. What's the difference between the two types of administration? Is it like 'receivership' vs 'liquidation'?

Pretty much. Chapter 7 is straight liquidation, while Chapter 11 governs reorganization of the bankrupt business (but is not technically receivership, I think). Businesses in Chapter 11 can still liquidate, however.

[CaptHawkeye]

Man I have to lol again how low Homefront went for. Relative to the other bids that was a clearance sale. "Please get rid of this."

[Havok]

Volition and Saints Row franchise
Winning bid: $22.3 million - Koch Media
Backup bidder: $5.4 million - Ubisoft

As this is the only game I play of these, let alone have heard of, is this going to get me more dressup and a bigger city in SRIV?

[SilverWingedSeraph]

Surprised to see Metro and Volition/Saints Row going to a publisher that I didn't even recognise until I googled them. I thought those two franchises would get snatched up by one of the bigger names.

[weemadando]

Man I have to lol again how low Homefront went for. Relative to the other bids that was a clearance sale. "Please get rid of this."

It's a fucking bargain honestly. The game was hardly a sales flop - it did a ~2m units according to most reports and had a massive advertising campaign that created brand awareness. There's a reason they ordered a sequel, because they felt they could capitalise on what they had already created.

Then again, it was THQ making business decisions, soooo...

[DaveJB]

Yeah, the reason Homefront was such a big financial loser probably had more to do with how high its budget supposedly was (although I'm not exactly sure what they spent all the money on, as it looked a pretty standard FPS) than its sales figures. Presumably Crytek think they can make a sequel financially viable by keeping costs under control.

As this is the only game I play of these, let alone have heard of, is this going to get me more dressup and a bigger city in SRIV?

It is in the sense that the game will actually be made now.

Since the third game was a relatively big hit, hopefully the new owners will have enough sense not to go screwing with the development team, though this new company doesn't seem to have that much of a reputation either way.

[bilateralrope]

Surprised to see Metro and Volition/Saints Row going to a publisher that I didn't even recognise until I googled them. I thought those two franchises would get snatched up by one of the bigger names.

Ubisoft tried. But they were outbid on both. Outbid by quite a bit for Volition.

[Zaune]

No word on the Homeworld IP? Maybe the Kickstarter idea someone mentioned on the Relic forums isn't so far-fetched after all.

[weemadando]

Homeworld, Full Spectrum Warrior and a bunch of other "legacy" IPs are apparently tied up still and not for auction today.

[CaptHawkeye]

Man I have to lol again how low Homefront went for. Relative to the other bids that was a clearance sale. "Please get rid of this."

It's a fucking bargain honestly. The game was hardly a sales flop - it did a ~2m units according to most reports and had a massive advertising campaign that created brand awareness. There's a reason they ordered a sequel, because they felt they could capitalise on what they had already created.

Then again, it was THQ making business decisions, soooo...

It didn't obtain the "critical mass" big name shooters like Battlefield and Call of Duty have. Popularity measured in the sale of 2 million or so units over years isn't really that much since the market is so much bigger now than it was in 2004 when that was way more impressive.

I think it's pretty indicative of how inept THQ's management was that they tried to compete with behemoths like EA and Activision on their own terms. You can't out-Battlefield, Battlefield. That market is already tapped, so it's only retarded to try and wrest it from EA when they're so entrenched in it. So retarded that THQ felt like they would have another go at trying to popularize one of the worst new IPs in recent years by approving a sequel.

[White Haven]

Homeworld, Full Spectrum Warrior and a bunch of other "legacy" IPs are apparently tied up still and not for auction today.

Do you have any documentation of that? I'm not saying that out of doubt, I just want to dig down into the details, and I'm at work so I don't have the time to do the research myself right now.

[weemadando]

It was part of a larger article on Polygon IIRC. Not sure exactly where - it was just one of the many links I saw yesterday.

[White Haven]

Had a little time to do some digging, but all I've been able to find is 'legal, fuck off,' which is hardly the level of detail I was hoping for. Probably all I can expect from gaming journalism, though, ah well.

[bilateralrope]

Platinum Games interested in Darksiders franchise

by Steve Watts, Jan 24, 2013 7:30am PST
Related Topics – Darksiders, Darksiders II, THQ, Vigil Games, Darksiders Series, Platinum Games

Yesterday we finally got word of where THQ's franchises were going, as the company's intellectual properties were sold off piece-meal to various publishers. One notable exception, however, was Vigil Games and the Darksiders franchise, which went unclaimed. The series' fortunes look bleak, but Platinum Games has signaled an interest in saving it.

IGN reports that JP Kellams, a talent spotter and translator for Platinum, reached out to Vigil lead designer Haydn Dalton about getting in touch with staff members to work with or at Platinum.

Then, Platinum head Atsushi Inaba tweeted (translated by Kotaku), "In THQ studio and IP selling off auction, Darksiders is unsold? [We] wanna buy it...on the cheap..."

Platinum isn't as flush with funds as some auction buyers like Ubisoft or Take 2, so the purchase would probably have to be "on the cheap." But given that Darksiders hasn't stirred up interest elsewhere, that might be a viable goal. This could mean future games in the Darksiders franchise, and possibly even some involvement from former team members if they take Kellams up on the job offer.

I wonder why they didn't place a bid while everything was getting auctioned off.

[Stark]

What does it matter? If you're a 'fan', even if it doesn't sell now to anyone who uses it it'll get traded around. The idea that 'favorite' games need to be snapped up so we can have more of xyz is probably wrong. It's likely the idiots of 'gaming journalism' are just creating value with their 'news'.

And man, people still care about Homeworld? Protect the brands!

[xthetenth]

And man, people still care about Homeworld? Protect the brands!

Considering that brands are pretty much the only way to sell publishers on something, being concerned for a brand in a genre you liked that doesn't get much play at all isn't irrational at all.