I think it was an analyst who said that and no one from THQ itself.
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THQ lowers Q3 expectations by 25% on weak uDraw 360/PS3 sales, [Stock Still Tanking]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
I think it was an analyst who said that and no one from THQ itself.
Nuclear Muffin
Banned
Oh yeah, forgot about that.
I can't quite find the "if Darksiders 2 sells the same as Darksiders 1, we won't get a third" statement, but here's one of them where they express... a somewhat positive, somewhat negative view on the game's sales.
Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/252059/darksiders-2-confirmed-out-2012/CVG said:
It was a very short thread. Easy to miss.
Aren't they raising 400 million dollars because they expect to lose money next year? They've lost 800K subscribers since the price hike.
This little diddy on THQ p/b probably caught the attention of a few investors as well.
again /charts
bigtroyjon
Member
Losing those 800K subscribers caused profit to drop from 68 million down to 62 million. They are doing fine, the 400 million is capital to help fund the global expansion of their business.
I guess it isn't as bad as some of the articles have been making it out to be.
Anyway, does THQ have anything on the horizon that is going to reverse this trend?
THQ lost all of the gains they made today from winning their lawsuit and are now below their previous 52 week low.
They are also now worth less than $49.1 million, which is less than Dark Millennium Online's $50 million budget.
They are also now worth less than $49.1 million, which is less than Dark Millennium Online's $50 million budget.
StealthGoblin
Banned
We should club together and buy them.
Vigil is based in Austin? I didn't know that. With the talk about Retro Studios developing the next Zelda game, I wonder if Nintendo plans to absorb some of Darksiders key members or even the Darksiders team.
In order to develop an HD game, Retro would probably need to expand heavily anyway...
In order to develop an HD game, Retro would probably need to expand heavily anyway...
The Dutch Slayer
Member
evil solrac v3.0
Member
just have relic make company of heroes 2 and we'll be good.
StealthGoblin
Banned
Market cap is under $50 million. I doubt they would be interested.
StealthGoblin
Banned
Microsoft paid seven and a half times the current value of THQ for Rare.
Warhammer 40K license (DoW, SpaceMarine, MMO), Saints Row, Darksiders, COH, Homeworld, WWE, UFC, Homefront......
StealthGoblin
Banned
The WWE, Warhammer 40K and UFC licences cannot be sold without the express permission of the owner of the IP.
Ether_Snake
å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®
I'm guessing they'll close almost everything except THQ Montreal and Volition.
True but the studios that make those games could be picked up. Still plenty of good developers and IPs at THQ. Hell i think Warner Bros bought Midway just for Mortal Kombat and paid like 30 million.
Nintendo would be crazy not to consider it, at least. They desperately need more studios to prevent lulls in release schedules, AND they need a greater foothold in the Western market, where they sell most of their games anyway.
I couldn't quickly find a recent source, but Nintendo has recently been worth as much as 50 billion dollars. 50 million is chump change to them - make it happen Iwata.
bigtroyjon
Member
Market cap doesn't really matter when you are talking about buying a company, especially one like THQ where you have to assume a bunch of debt.
Stock price factors in the current management and their ability to turn various profitable products into one giant money sink of a company. Take away that management and all of the assets have a lot more value. Saints Row by itself is easily worth over $50 million when you look at the sales the franchise has put up over the last 5 years.
Theoretically you could buy them right now for 50 million ;D Pratically it doesn't work that way, but however.
The question is why anyone would want to buy such a huge pack of problems. In return you would get a thousand additional people on your pay list (okay, you would probably fire a lot of them), you would get a company that failed to be profitable and probably has its own chunk of debt, you'd get some studios that are developing games you might not even be interested in. And for what? For a few mid- to low-tier IPs? Sure, there's talent in their studios, but most companies aren't interested in owning more studios nowadays.
There's pretty much no reason for either Microsoft or Sony to consider it. They both have a healthy line-up of western IPs and developers; and what is missing they are doing by money-hatting.
Nintendo on the other hand could really need it. They desperately need new IPs for the western core audience. As it is, they have pretty much none. THQ's studios are also typical studios Nintendo likes to work with: talented B-tier studios that could achieve great things with a little help. However, I think that Nintendo would be very hesitant before buying something that huge, which could easily overburden them. THQ also has some stuff in the works that wouldn't make any sense for them -- the high-budget Warhamme MMO for example. Most studios would also need to cancel what they've in production right now, in favor of Wii U versions of those games which would make things even more expensive.
StealthGoblin
Banned
Saints Row has value as a multiplatform franchise. If one of the console manufacturers were to buy them, the investment would be a lot more risky.
I suspect that if THQ were bought, most of the studios would be dissolved and the IP's given to better teams.
reptilescorpio
Member
$6.53 down to $0.71? Crickey. Hopefully the liquidators won't charge too much for the Red Faction and Saint's Row IP's when Volition reforms.
Actually, Nintendo's only worth about $17 billion right now, but they have the cash reserves for it.
Yeah, Nintendo's probably the only company that can buy them and safely do something with them. That said, I didn't consider the debts. Really, this would be a prime opportunity for Nintendo if they plan things out properly, but I don't see them jumping on it.
Sony doesn't need anymore studios, now that I think about it, and western third-parties are so in love with Microsoft that they have no need to buy them.
Nuclear Muffin
Banned
EA or Activision could do with a solid GTA competitor...
akilshohen
Member
They could handle it. Look at True Crime for Activision, and Def Jam Icon for EA (Content and language).
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
Not dead yet folks.
Maybe. have a bit less money than Sony and Nintendo, though, and frankly I don't really see it being worth it to them.
east of eastside
Banned
Is Ubisoft in any realistic danger of going the same route next-gen?
Ether_Snake
å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®
lol, they have plenty of money to buy Take 2, let alone THQ.
Sony or Nintendo will never buy them, ever.
I don't see it, they have many fronts,and for some reasons their garbageware and shovelware stuff sells like mad, also AssCreed fans will buy any AssCreed rehash in full price anytime.
but I wonder of Ubi's uDraw clone ( Drawosome) is having an apocalypse just like uDraw or actually doing better.
Would be funny if 2K somehow got the Saints Row IP
It's weird that still no one want to eat the company or even the studios, will be sad if these publishers are just waiting for THQ to die so they can have some IPs for cheap.
I don't see the benefits for Nintendo to be honest, a good bunch of THQ franchises are completely useless to them (Darksiders and almost everything made by Relic for example). Plus the rest of their franchise sell decently at best, having them as exclusive wouldn't bring many new customers.
That worked out pretty well for Warner. And that way you don't have to pay their debts.
And Ubisoft is fine. Their main cash cows sell amazingly well and show no sign of real fatigue. (Just dance 3 will probably be the best selling Just Dance game and AssCreed Revelation is selling in line with -or better than?- Brotherhood. THQ dreams they could have one franchise that sells half as good and as consistently as one of those. (and on a yearly basis too)
That worked out pretty well for Warner. And that way you don't have to pay their debts.
And Ubisoft is fine. Their main cash cows sell amazingly well and show no sign of real fatigue. (Just dance 3 will probably be the best selling Just Dance game and AssCreed Revelation is selling in line with -or better than?- Brotherhood. THQ dreams they could have one franchise that sells half as good and as consistently as one of those. (and on a yearly basis too)
they won't cancel Metro 2034 I think. Metro 2033 cost them less than 5 million bucks. The game will be picked up quickly anyway if they do, it's close to completion, the team is relatively cheap and professional.
I feel most projects that are almost done aren't at risk, because that cost is already almost done by the time they are acquired.
It makes the most sense to just release everything that is almost done, see what works and what doesn't, and then shut down studios from there.
It is a notable marketing burden, yes, but if they feel there is even a moderate chance of success, it seems worth it to at least try.
Anything 1-1.5+ years out though is a lot riskier, since then you have to absorb the entire marketing and development cost.
So, unless they really feel that most of THQ's projects just suck - and to be honest, they're probably not dying to buy them at that point - things will likely be safe for about six months before a potentially giant reckoning.
I don't think they have a lot of studios to shut down. They won't shut down Volition, Vigil and 4A Games are independent. What else?
snoopeasystreet
Member
Relic
ZombieSupaStar
Member
figures, they finally get their head out of their asses and make the first good wrestling game since Here Comes the Pain, and they will probably go bankrupt.
snoopeasystreet
Member
I agree. Saints Row 3 was great.
I was vaguely including cutting funding to their third party projects as potentially causing layoffs or shutdowns.
I obviously don't have any answers myself, but I really hope game publishers find a way to stop hemorrhaging money, and focus more on sustainability. Plenty of games this generation have been ridiculously profitable. The fact that all past successes can be wiped out by 1 or 2 bombs seems like a terribly unstable system. Even THQ has had a number of hit titles this generation. Crazy how quickly they are going belly up.
A good studio will always find partners if it wants to.
I'll agree.
However, what they actually get to do when they find a new partner can be up in the air.
I'll agree.
However, what they actually get to do when they find a new partner can be up in the air.
What impact would THQ going under have on project's like Devil's Third? Can the game easily be transferred to another publisher or would the assets belong to THQ?
THQ insists that they own the IPs for everything they publish (that they're not explicitly licensing).
So, unless someone bought the IP from them, some things would probably need to be changed.
Also, Devil's Third is built on a modified Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine engine, which is modified from Vigil's Darksiders engine, so there are probably quite a few legal issues with their technology as well.
You may have simply forgotten about them, but personally I feel that Relic is the gem of all their studios. If there was a Midwayesque selloff situation I'd love to see Valve acquire Relic and add a great RTS studio to their company. I think the Homeworld IP is still valuable.
I feel Relic is the gem from another era though.
Ensemble was an extremely well regarded developer, but ultimately this didn't save them from getting shut down due to the industry's focus on consoles.