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THQ's bankruptcy sale details: Auction on January 22nd, Will Allow Piecemeal Purchase

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amardilo

Member
If I were MS I would swoop in for Saints Row.

That sounds good but I'd be worried that MS would not allow Volition to make Saints Row as crazy as it is now and will not want to upset studios like Rockstar (so they keep timed exclusive DLC). I think if Volition are allowed to do what they want and MS back them with cash and promotion then it will be great.

I would also like Microsoft to buy the other studios Relic Entertainment, Vigil Games and THQ Studio Montreal (if THQ has to be split up).

Microsoft could give the Age of Empires franchise (and any RTS games) to Relic Entertainment and have them really push PC game development and develop console games of any genre (although I'd play a Relic developed Halo Wars 2).

They could then get Vigil Games to make some more Darksider games or some games to compete with either God of War and/or Zelda.

As for THQ Studio Montreal it's a little too early to find out what they are doing but Microsoft does have the money to build out the studio and support whatever game they are making.
 

Totobeni

An blind dancing ho
If Volition got separated from Saints Row IP then it will be a sad day.

-EA is a horrible publisher and will kill THQ IPs.

-Square-Enix is shit company and they don't know what they are doing and ruined Final Fantasy and Hitman,Tomb Raider and will destroy THQ IPs as well.

-WB will force THQ studios to make Batman games for the rest of their lives just like what they are doing with Rocksteady..also GFWL.

-Microsoft, console exclusive so please no.

-Ubi, will most likely turn Vigil and Volition into robots studios to help making AssCreed yearly rehashes.

it's a lose-lose situation for almost everyone if any of these horrible publishers bought THQ,THQ IPs or studios.
 
If Volition got separated from Saints Row IP then it will be a sad day.

-EA is a horrible publisher and will kill THQ IPs.

-Square-Enix is shit company and they don't know what they are doing and ruined Final Fantasy and Hitman,Tomb Raider and will destroy THQ IPs as well.

-WB will force THQ studios to make Batman games for the rest of their lives just like what they are doing with Rocksteady..also GFWL.

-Microsoft, console exclusive so please no.

-Ubi, will most likely turn Vigil and Volition into robots studios to help making AssCreed yearly rehashes.

it's a lose-lose situation for almost everyone if any of these horrible publishers bought THQ,THQ IPs or studios.
Sony?
 

ChaosXVI

Member
Well this is certainly not the way I expected this to play out...Potential management sabotage just seemed unlikely what with the fact numbers alone made the company look to be circling the drain...

I expect Ubisoft to be leading the charge on buying up IP and studios, along with EA.

Microsoft is the only console maker I'd see as interested, but I still find it unlikely.

I would give anything to have Nintendo buyout THQ wholesale, just to see the reactions.
 

Totobeni

An blind dancing ho

Console exclusivity so same as Microsoft, please no.

I think we'd see Sony way before Nintendo

Sony is killing their own studios left and right now days, there is no way in hell they are even thinking of buying THQ or any of its studios.

I hope Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo stay the fuck away from this,forcing the fans of THQ games to buy a specific system will be the worst thing ever.
 

MormaPope

Banned
If Volition got separated from Saints Row IP then it will be a sad day.

-EA is a horrible publisher and will kill THQ IPs.

-Square-Enix is shit company and they don't know what they are doing and ruined Final Fantasy and Hitman,Tomb Raider and will destroy THQ IPs as well.

-WB will force THQ studios to make Batman games for the rest of their lives just like what they are doing with Rocksteady..also GFWL.

-Microsoft, console exclusive so please no.

-Ubi, will most likely turn Vigil and Volition into robots studios to help making AssCreed yearly rehashes.

it's a lose-lose situation for almost everyone if any of these horrible publishers bought THQ,THQ IPs or studios.

Dude, you act as if the publishers you listed are somehow worst than THQ itself. Why would these publishers not utilize what made THQ money in the past or would make money for THQ in the future if they were still around?

Your assertions are so odd, only one I can remotely agree with is the EA one.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
I don't understand. What happened to that firm?

The current proposal to follow the plan that results in selling to them or receiving any funding to continue operating while attempting to sell to them was blocked by a court with a new hearing scheduled on Monday.
 

Caspel

Business & Marketing Manager @ GungHo
I wish all my friends that still work at THQ the best of luck -- I can't believe it's been a year since I was in the fourth wave of layoffs. A full of year of sitting on edge at THQ would have overwhelming stressful.
 

BD1

Banned
Honestly, the best case scenario would be a competent Private Equity firm buys them and installs competent management. THQ could remain mostly intact, with a management team accountable to the owners, delivering a more focused operation.

Clearlake is probably not that group and their collusion with THQ management has probably doomed their employees.
 
Honestly, the best case scenario would be a competent Private Equity firm buys them and installs competent management. THQ could remain mostly intact, with a management team accountable to the owners, delivering a more focused operation.

Clearlake is probably not that group and their collusion with THQ management has probably doomed their employees.

No, private equity would use a leveraged buy out scheme which would leave THQ swimming in debt once the PE firm sold up.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
What about ZeniMax Media Inc or Disney?

Disney is really only interested in social/mobile/browser gaming, but I could see ZeniMax being interested in maybe 1 or 2 studios.

Their business model revolves around boutique games that sell 2+ million copies, and some of THQ's franchises are pretty close to that.

I'm not sure how much they're willing to invest versus others though.
 

iavi

Member
-Square-Enix is shit company and they don't know what they are doing and ruined Final Fantasy and Hitman,Tomb Raider and will destroy THQ IPs as well.

I don't agree with this at all. Look at Sleeping Dogs. It was rescued from Activision, and nurtured into both being a sleeper hit of last year, and a solid pc port. So much so, Wada came out and coined it as one of their ten pillar franchises.

Saints Row would be fine under them, I say, as long as they take Volition under their wing to do it.
 

BD1

Banned
No, private equity would use a leveraged buy out scheme which would leave THQ swimming in debt once the PE firm sold up.

You're generalizing Private Equity. Obviously it depends on what firm you're talking about, but there are a lot of PE groups that buy, manage and run normal business' for profitability. That is why I said competent.

If you get the other type, than yeah, look out.
 

shaowebb

Member
At this point I don't think Clearlake could get what they want in people buying up studios whole from them. Folks are just fishing for franchises more than studios so piecemeal is about all people will be offering up. Though, Ubisoft expressed interest in THQ's studios and franchises didn't they?

In any event I feel for all those guys out there hanging by a thread with those studios until something is settled. Our industry is tough right now and having your job so near the ax is incredibly scary. Heres hoping the studios and their employees land on their feet from this.
 
Thing is if I were Microsoft I wouldn't be buying this for one studio. The reason they failed with Rare was MS didn't actually have any developers to send over or executives with knowledge of development/the industry.

Its why they've been best working with independent studios mostly on a case by case basis.

If they buy THQ they gain a larger corporate division. If I were them I'd rebrand it all under Xbox and merge a lot of what they do with the Xbox divisions. The game studios would become more secondary, its the people and processes they'd be buying.


However I very much doubt at this stage in the run up to a new gen MS is suddenly going to want to change their development strategy. They'll sit back and let the third parties swoop in.

The cheaper option is just to never ever ever buy another Rare.

You're generalizing Private Equity. Obviously it depends on what firm you're talking about, but there are a lot of PE groups that buy, manage and run normal business' for profitability. That is why I said competent.

Only if they see the faults solely down to management though.
The games industry is about to jump to a new generation; two phone calls would tell a competent PE group that this just means a bunch of risk and 'competence' isn't going to cut it.

Theres nothing special about THQ to make them magically compete better than other third parties.
 
The thing about SE is that they apparently also have a very weak marketing strategy in the US, IIRC both Sleeping Dogs and Hitman underperformed in the US according to NPD reports. I don't think that they will bother with acquiring a company in a region that they don't have much power in.
 

Tizoc

Member
I've been wondering about something: THQ's products have been among the top 20 selling games on Steam this past 2-3 weeks, wouldn't any of this income help them getting out of the red, for lack of a better word?
 
A company like EA would just ruin it. I think.

Ruin it? Nah, they would put it on mothballs and store it with all their other dead IP's:

indiana-jones-raiders-warehouse.jpg
 
Microsoft kills off all their game studios, why would they buy THQ (or why would anyone want them to buy THQ)?
They've killed off less than Sony the past few years. Recently Microsoft's been opening new studios like crazy actually.



Why does Nintendo keep coming up in every THQ thread? They wouldn't touch them with a bargepole =/
Because it's the only way we'll ever see a Syn Sophia (aka: Aki) WWE game again.
 

Saty

Member
I always said Warner is best to go for Relic\CoH. They are the only big publisher without a prominent RTS IP\team.
 

Dambrosi

Banned
So...regarding these allegations of THQ management purposely devaluing the company's stocks and properties...

Would the THQ Humble Bundle have been a part of their dastardly plan? Or no?
 

Mario007

Member
Console exclusivity so same as Microsoft, please no.



Sony is killing their own studios left and right now days, there is no way in hell they are even thinking of buying THQ or any of its studios.

I hope Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo stay the fuck away from this,forcing the fans of THQ games to buy a specific system will be the worst thing ever.

It'd be nice since they give lots of freedom to their top devs but they just don't have the money to buy studios and IPs. They've actually been doing the opposite lately and trimming a lot of fat to save money.

PS2 era Sony maybe could have done it.

This thing about Sony killing studios as crazy needs to be put into context. They closed down 3 studios, all of which were putting out titles that are underperforming big time and haven't made a hit in ages. Having said that many employees from SL were actually kept.

I could see Sony being a very good publisher for Saints Row or Darksiders (Sony would be happy with sales of 1.5 million actually) with their respective studios. However, it goes against their mantra of working with studios first and then buying them. Having said that, they should really look at this.

And yes they do have money to buy a studio or two, or even outbid some other publishers.

The thing about SE is that they apparently also have a very weak marketing strategy in the US, IIRC both Sleeping Dogs and Hitman underperformed in the US according to NPD reports. I don't think that they will bother with acquiring a company in a region that they don't have much power in.

They could step in and buy THQ's marketing arm as well. That could really help their sales in the US.

Though I don't see SE being interested in many THQ franchises. They want to go for 2 million sellers and really only Saints Row is able to do that, but that'd mean SE would have 3 sand-box franchises.
 
Microsoft kills off all their game studios, why would they buy THQ (or why would anyone want them to buy THQ)?

That's ironic you say that because I honestly can't think of one publisher who has opened more studios in the past three years than Microsoft Studios. We've only seen the products of a few so far (343 Industries = Halo 4, Good Science = Kinect Adventures, BigPark = Kinect Sports Season 2, Soho Prodctions = Kinect Nat Geo), but there are still plenty to be seen (Black Tusk Studios, MS Victoria, Connected Experiences, MS London, MS LA, etc).
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-01-04/thq-denied-approval-of-bankruptcy-sale-process-and-loan

So, Business Week had a bit more on the trial:

-The creditors are requesting that there be three more weeks in the bankruptcy bidding process, and that potential buyers be allowed to consider buying individual assets.
-The judge stated that the evidence showed that THQ's pre-announcement marketing was insufficient as 10 buyers came forth only after the announcement was made.
-The judge also said that there could be significant value in selling the assets individually, and that Clearlake's requirement of a bulk sale may suppress bids.
-The judge ended by noting that she wasn't convinced THQ actually needed to complete the sale by January 15th, because their funds and cash flow were better than they were claiming.

Given the relatively small requests creditors are making, I'm having trouble seeing a scenario where they don't get their wishes, especially after the judge seems to agree with their sentiments.
 
So THQ broken up and the assets sold off? I hope EA gets the WWE license at this point. They would probably atleast do decent with it and treat it as a serious property. As long as Yukes doesn't make it anymore I'm fine with it.
 

MormaPope

Banned
So individual THQ IP's are going to be sold to the highest paying bidder instead of the Clearlake scam plan?

Could a bidder still buy THQ and all it's IP's in one big swoop?
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
So individual THQ IP's are going to be sold to the highest paying bidder instead of the Clearlake scam plan?

Could a bidder still buy THQ and all it's IP's in one big swoop?

If individual asset sale of THQ is approved, a bidder would basically have to outbid the aggregate of all the highest bids for each individual asset in order to get the entire company to my understanding.

This would be after about a 4-5 week bidding war over each of those given assets, so it could be a pretty high sum.

If someone bid $55 million for Saints Row and Volition in isolation for example, they'd still be saving a lot of money over the Clearlake bid, but would have pushed the price pretty close to that on one asset alone. They also wouldn't have to deal with all the severance fees, extraneous debt, and general bad press around buying the whole thing and shutting down everything else.

Given that we've had acquisitions like nearly $1 billion for BioWare Pandemic and $275 million for Rare, along with huge prices for social games studios, that kind of bid for Saints Row and Volition isn't really unreasonable at all.

Warner even bought Turbine, the financially ho-hum MMO company, for $160 million.
 

PaulLFC

Member
So basically this is the creditors saying their money is more important than saving many people's jobs? Or are there other reasons this has been blocked as well?
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
So basically this is the creditors saying their money is more important than saving many people's jobs? Or are there other reasons this has been blocked as well?

That's what bankruptcy is.

The creditors gave THQ $X million to help create jobs and run their business under the stipulation that THQ pay them back with interest.

Now that THQ is going bankrupt, the creditors want to recover as much of their money as possible.

If creditors had no protection in a situation like this, they likely wouldn't be lending out money in the first place, and THQ wouldn't have been around long enough to even be having this hearing in January.

Now, selling off individual assets doesn't mean everyone will lose their jobs, just those who have no interested parties. For example, no one running a video game company is going to want THQ's accounting department, but most of them will want the studio that is developing the IP they're after, unless that studio is long since gone or moved on to things that are vastly different. An example of that would be that most companies would want Volition along with the Saints Row IP, but they might not care about buying Volition when picking up the Red Faction IP. In a scenario like this however, you could have one person pay a lot for the former and someone pay at least some amount for the latter, and all these individual bids could amount to a significant amount of money overall.

Will it amount to more than the maximum amount Clearlake is willing to pay for a bulk purchase? I don't know, that's what the bidding process is to determine. However, you could also end up with a situation where 2-3 of THQ's assets get sold off since it creates the most profitable result in terms of what Clearlake is willing to pay for THQ sans those assets combined with the price of those individual assets sold for. For example if someone was to pay $15 million for Relic, but Clearlake was willing to take the rest of THQ sans Relic for $50, that's a total bid of $65 million instead of $60 million.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
If I'm going to make only one bet about this whole thing, I'm still going all in on EA ending up with Relic by the time this is over.

I feel they're the only company that is notably interested in an RTS developer, especially in Vancouver, if individual bids are being allowed.
 

Kifimbo

Member
If I'm going to make only one bet about this whole thing, I'm still going all in on EA ending up with Relic by the time this is over.

I feel they're the only company that is notably interested in an RTS developer, especially in Vancouver, if individual bids are being allowed.

I was expecting EA to be more interested in Volition/Saints Row, because they don't have a sandbox franchise. RTS-wise, EA already has no idea what to do with Command & Conquer, so I'm not sure why they would buy Relic.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
I was expecting EA to be more interested in Volition/Saints Row, because they don't have a sandbox franchise. RTS-wise, EA already has no idea what to do with Command & Conquer, so I'm not sure why they would buy Relic.

We already know from someone involved with this whole process that EA was the only interested party for them in the preliminary phase, at least at the start.

They also fit EA's PC, f2p, and digital pushes, along with meshing with their gigantic Vancouver setup.

That said, I think they're interested in Volition as well, but I'm willing to say 90%+ of bidders will be because it's an open world console game like GTA that ships 5+ million copies.
 
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