THQ files for bankruptcy

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DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
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It sounds like this is much better news than if they were shutting down and just selling the rights to their titles.

We should still see games like Saint's Row 4, and in the short run EA or Activision or whoever bought them won't ruin anything. Long term, who knows?
 
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cl-scott

ASUS Support
Jul 5, 2012
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Well, the good news is that it's Chapter 11 not 7. Chapter 11 means they're hoping to continue eventually, 7 would mean they're shutting down pretty much effective immediately.

However, the Humble Bundle netted them something like $5m IIRC, which is maybe enough for a single AAA title. So, I'm sure that money helped, and might have even made the difference between Chapter 11 vs 7 filing, but it's probably kind of a drop in the bucket overall.

I'm just hoping this won't affect Dawn of War 3.
 
CPA

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
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cl-scott said:
Well, the good news is that it's Chapter 11 not 7. Chapter 11 means they're hoping to continue eventually, 7 would mean they're shutting down pretty much effective immediately.

However, the Humble Bundle netted them something like $5m IIRC, which is maybe enough for a single AAA title. So, I'm sure that money helped, and might have even made the difference between Chapter 11 vs 7 filing, but it's probably kind of a drop in the bucket overall.

I'm just hoping this won't affect Dawn of War 3.
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Yep, drop in the bucket.

And the fact they have had negative cash flow for some time doesn't bode well.

BTW, it looks like the assets are being bought up by an asset management/private equity group - think Romney's Bain Capital. Will be interesting to see how the company plays the assets and if the gaming community starts screaming once some assets are sold/shuttered - which will happen.
 
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wanderer27

Platinum Member
Aug 6, 2005
2,173
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cl-scott said:
Well, the good news is that it's Chapter 11 not 7. Chapter 11 means they're hoping to continue eventually, 7 would mean they're shutting down pretty much effective immediately.

However, the Humble Bundle netted them something like $5m IIRC, which is maybe enough for a single AAA title. So, I'm sure that money helped, and might have even made the difference between Chapter 11 vs 7 filing, but it's probably kind of a drop in the bucket overall.

I'm just hoping this won't affect Dawn of War 3.
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That's assuming that it all went to them, which it didn't.

For sure some of it went to them, but a portion also went to Charity (and a minor bit to Humble tip).

Keep in mind, there were many protesting the DRM aspect of this bundle that sent nothing to THQ and all to Charity.
Personally I chose not to even partake of this Bundle since I have no use for Steam and therefore the whole thing was effectively valueless.


.
 
Maximilian

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,603
9
81
SunnyD said:
Supposedly still business as usual for ALL productions under the THQ umbrella. From what I can tell, they're being bought out (at a bargain basement price).
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I hope it dosent mean that CoH 2 will be released then quickly abandoned because the new buyer is a cheapskate :\ THQ did promise "strong post release support".
 
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Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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cl-scott said:
However, the Humble Bundle netted them something like $5m IIRC, which is maybe enough for a single AAA title.
Click to expand...

Even assuming that THQ made that much, that's not even close to what it would take for a AAA title.
 
TakeNoPrisoners

TakeNoPrisoners

Platinum Member
Jun 3, 2011
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SunnyD said:
Supposedly still business as usual for ALL productions under the THQ umbrella. From what I can tell, they're being bought out (at a bargain basement price).
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The evil EA will buy it out, cancel everything, then force them to produce CoD clones.
 
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Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,939
6
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Maximilian said:
I hope it dosent mean that CoH 2 will be released then quickly abandoned because the new buyer is a cheapskate :\ THQ did promise "strong post release support".
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It's more likely to have strong post release support with a buyer than it would have if THQ had gone bankrupt after it was released.

And any IPs that are worth money but won't be used will be at worst sold off by the new owners.
You're not going to buy a company whose main assets are their IP as well as in development games, and then shutter the games and scrap the IP. You're going to do something to maximise the value of the assets you've purchased. If anything this is good, because it means someone will cast a fresh eye over all of THQs business, because the current management haven't managed to do a good job of anything.

These guys are in it to make money, which means they want to increase the value of THQ. Closing stuff down and cancelling things won't necessarily help them make money on their purchase.
 
QueBert

QueBert

Lifer
Jan 6, 2002
22,392
722
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Hummm I bought a THQ game that was suppose to come out today, I wonder if this will effect it. GMG said it was out yesterday but it won't let me download it.

sheit :(
 
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Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,939
6
81
TakeNoPrisoners said:
The evil EA will buy it out, cancel everything, then force them to produce CoD clones.
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You do know what THQ churns out, right?
Endless licensed titles.
Their big 4 upcoming non-licensed IP games are all sequels.
Most of their TBA titles are movie, sports or TV tie ins, or... sequels.

There are some unannounced titles, which may be original, but are probably sequels or licensed titles.

Oh, and EA already has BF and MoH, and MoH started before CoD.
 
C

cl-scott

ASUS Support
Jul 5, 2012
457
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wanderer27 said:
That's assuming that it all went to them, which it didn't.
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I'll admit to frequently skimming over things, but pretty sure I remember seeing somewhere that the $5m figure is what THQ's cut of the total was. Obviously don't quote me on that, since I'm not even rightly sure where it is I saw that, but I think we can safely say that even if $5m was THQ's cut of the total, it wasn't anywhere near enough.
 
JamesV

JamesV

Platinum Member
Jul 9, 2011
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Only five or so years ago, THQ was doing the best they've ever done, and what do you do in corporate america when your business is flourishing - you invent things like the Udraw; something that shows management is trying something in order to validate big bonuses.

If they invested that Udraw money into other areas, and took those big cuts to salary and bonuses, WHEN they had positive cash flow... might be a different story today. Blame lies squarely with uppper management; people I wouldn't let oversee a $500 savings account.

I don't feel sorry for them at all, but I do hope CoH 2 isn't ruined by this.
 
gorcorps

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,737
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cl-scott said:
I'll admit to frequently skimming over things, but pretty sure I remember seeing somewhere that the $5m figure is what THQ's cut of the total was. Obviously don't quote me on that, since I'm not even rightly sure where it is I saw that, but I think we can safely say that even if $5m was THQ's cut of the total, it wasn't anywhere near enough.
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I went to go check the humble bundle site because they always put up how many were sold when it's done and the average price. We could have used that with the default split to approximate, but they already have ANOTHER indie bundle going and I can't find a way to pull up stats from previous sales.

edit: found a story http://www.polygon.com/2012/12/12/3...5-million-in-sales-jason-rubin-kicks-in-10000

Looks like it was $5 million total sales
 
Nintendesert

Nintendesert

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2010
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They make great games, I'm guessing there's a lot of mismanagement of projects and money being wasted. Hopefully things work out.
 
CPA

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
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Nintendesert said:
They make great games, I'm guessing there's a lot of mismanagement of projects and money being wasted. Hopefully things work out.
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Just looking at their SG&A costs they seem to be around 30% of revenues. Compare that to EA's 25% and Activision's 20% and it would seem that they have an overhead issue. But, there real issue is game development costs. Their costs look to be around 70-80% of revenue, while EA's and Activision's are in the 30% range. That could mean several things:

-they're paying their folks well above industry average
-they have too many developers
-not selling enough units (probably the main reason)
-they have franchises that are losing money and bringing the rest down with them
 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
THQ just needs to translate more of their titles to on-rails FPS titles and stream line them for a wider audience.
 
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