45 mil? Is it just me or does that sound dirt cheap to anyone else?
45 mil? Is it just me or does that sound dirt cheap to anyone else?
45 mil? Is it just me or does that sound dirt cheap to anyone else?
I seriously don't get the state of the industry. These guys, and other companies listed on the stock market, post huge losses every year, yet when I look at their games:
+ de Blob 2: flopped, but not big budget
+ Destroy All Humans: flopped
+ Kung Fu Panda 2: dunno, think it was as profitable as these games usually are
+ WH40k Dawn of War II series: critical and commercial success
+ Red Faction Armageddon: massive flop
+ Saints Row 2 and 3: critical and commercial success
+ WWE franchise: mostly commercial success
+ UFC franchise: 1st game big success, 2nd game sold well but didn't perform as well as they wanted
+ Darksiders: critical and commercial success
+ Red Faction Guerrilla: critical and commercial success
+ Metro 2033: critical and commercial success
+ Homefront: critical flop, but commercial success
+ MX vs ATV: dunno. Think it flopped
+ WH40k Space Marine: critical and commercial success, despite not performing as well as they wanted
+ Company of Heroes Online: flopped
+ lots of smaller DS / Wii games, probably some did well, some flopped.
You'd be acquiring hundreds of millions in debt along with buying the company, which is why it's really unlikely that they'd be bought by another publisher.
45 mil? Is it just me or does that sound dirt cheap to anyone else?
Seriously, Microsoft needs to pick up Vigil and Relic.
If I were a purchaser, I'd just buy some parts of THQ, not the whole company. Who needs all that debt and failed business model...
Nuclear Muffin suggested some additions, and even called THQ going down in a follow up to that post here.
How well did DE Revolution did? Eidos' main IP is still Tomb Raider, it's a cashcow for sure but it's still not a AAA quality franchise. It's a little early to paint the Eidos acquisition as some sort of super shrewd move.
A lot of those commercial successes you're naming weren't considered to be by THQ. Homefront sold decently but they probably didn't even make back their marketing budget on it. They marketed that game to death expecting it to be HUGE, and it wasn't. THQ publically said Darksiders didn't sell enough and that Darksiders 2 needed to do far better to continue the franchise. And considering how they felt about Space Marine, I doubt they internally considered it a commercial success either.
I think the big factor though is that THQ has nothing that sells huge. They have a bunch of middling franchises that do 2-3 million, but those can't offset the huge bombs they've had this gen like the UDraw fiasco. They were banking on Homefront to be that 'big' game and it blew up in their face.
Just in from THQ: "THQ has not cancelled its 2014 lineup and has not made any decisions regarding the planned MMO."
You'd be acquiring hundreds of millions in debt along with buying the company, which is why it's really unlikely that they'd be bought by another publisher.
THQ has not cancelled its 2014 line-up, and has not made any decisions regarding the planned MMO. As part of the ongoing review of our business, we have made decisions to ensure that the company is strategically addressing the most attractive markets. As we have previously announced, we have dramatically reduced our commitment to the kids' boxed games sector which leads to a significantly more focused release schedule moving forward. Our slate for calendar 2012 and beyond is focused on high-quality core games and continues to build our digital platform and business. We are excited for our pipeline of original and high-quality content along with our relationships with some of the best talent in the industry.
Additionally, we are thrilled with the great performance of Saints Row: The Third, which on a like for like period in North America has tripled in sell-through from Saints Row 2. In addition, WWE '12's worldwide sell-through sales are up almost 40% year-over-year for the same sales period with fewer platforms. According to NPD, for the month of December and the 2011 year, THQ was the #5 publisher overall, #4 third party, with reported sell through growing over 18% in a market that was down almost 6%. And coming up next, we have two great titles for the first half of the year including UFC Undisputed 3 and Darksiders 2.
From Kotaku
From Kotaku
Wow, so extremely short lived and uninteresting that no one even remembers Gamecock opening and closing all in about a two year span this gen.
I would love it if Nintendo surprised u all and they bought something off of THQ.
Kotaku said:Ignore the second paragraph, it's all marketing. It's the first you should focus on. Specifically, the first sentence.
One thing, the fact there'll be some kind of 2014 lineup, is very clearly stated. No room for argument. The exact future of Dark Millennium, the forever-in-development MMO based on Warhammer 40K, is not clearly stated. It's downright ambiguous.
It would be much simpler for Nintendo to poach the talent they need rather than buy off studios which may be an expensive proposition. They are willing to buy those studios that they can get for bargain bin prices and they need to be confident that members of said studio will stick around and be loyal to Nintendo. That makes a western studio's chances of being bought out incredibly low.
As best Nirolak, Kev and I can work out, they basically have the capacity to pay off their debt with their cash on hand, the problem is more the $75m monthly churn rate and the necessity to fire like half the staff a whole-cloth purchaser would be faced with.
HD consoles claim another victim.
Am I reading right that this rumour pushed them to a new low of 65 cents a share?
If they don't cave, that's really cheap isn't it? Especially as if they are ever bought out there'd probably be a bidding war for what they own / license -
the MMO doesn't bother me personally, if they're streamlining things - that sounds prudent to me.
Just because they haven't cancelled their 2014 line-up doesn't mean their 2014 is anything significant, or their not interesting in cutting things back. We know inSANE and Devil's Third are scheduled for 2013, but what of 2014? Homefront 2 from Crytek, and Saints Row 4 maybe?
It's only the start of 2012. There's plenty of time for THQ to make some drastic cuts to their forecast and production studios.
I dunno; you don't even get everyone when you buy a whole studio - some people take the acquisition as a sign to leave, for example. Trying to poach a studio's worth of talent, even from dying studios, seems like it'd be way harder.It would be much simpler for Nintendo to poach the talent they need rather than buy off studios which may be an expensive proposition.
Any console platform-holder buying any of THQ's studios is an absolute worst-case scenario. Just letting them rot on the vine would be better than that, frankly.
Iffy source though.An anonymous employee of Relic Entertainment, a subsidiary of THQ based in Vancouver, has confided that work on their projects, both announced and unannounced and including the MMO Warhammer 40k: Dark Millennium Online, will continue, rejecting rumours that THQ have cancelled their games and may be closing down, assuming things dont suddenly change drastically Monday morning.
Relic are responsible for the Homeworld, Company of Heroes, and Warhammer 40,000 games. The company, originally an independent games developer, was acquired by THQ in May 2004 for a sum that was reported as close to $10 million. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War was the first title released by the team following the THQ acquisition.
Hours ago, Kevin Dent claimed via Twitter that THQ had cancelled all of their projects planned for launch in 2014. No confirmation or denial has yet come from THQ or any of its subsidiaries, but the environment could change drastically at the beginning of the work week. You can find out more about the rumours in this article.
Would you mind expanding upon this? I don't see (for example) Vigil being bought by Sony and made first party being worse than them rotting on the vine.
Not that I say I see it as being realistic or making good fiscal sense, I'm just curious how Vigil shriveling up and dying is better than becoming a first party studio to someone.
Sony doesn't give the freedom nor would it give them platform control, but the latter is pretty much a duh. Nor would they care about continuing on the franchises.Would you mind expanding upon this? I don't see (for example) Vigil being bought by Sony and made first party being worse than them rotting on the vine.
Not that I say I see it as being realistic or making good fiscal sense, I'm just curious how Vigil shriveling up and dying is better than becoming a first party studio to someone.
This is what all these rumors are about. Employees aren't going to find out until they go to work and are given pink slips“assuming things don’t suddenly change drastically Monday morning”
Pretty much yeah.This is what all these rumors are about. Employees aren't going to find out until they go to work and are given pink slips.
Employees are always the last to know in these types of situations.
They profited on Homefront. They needed like 2 mil to break even and they sold 3.A lot of those commercial successes you're naming weren't considered to be by THQ. Homefront sold decently but they probably didn't even make back their marketing budget on it. They marketed that game to death expecting it to be HUGE, and it wasn't. THQ publically said Darksiders didn't sell enough and that Darksiders 2 needed to do far better to continue the franchise. And considering how they felt about Space Marine, I doubt they internally considered it a commercial success either.
I think the big factor though is that THQ has nothing that sells huge. They have a bunch of middling franchises that do 2-3 million, but those can't offset the huge bombs they've had this gen like the UDraw fiasco. They were banking on Homefront to be that 'big' game and it blew up in their face.
Um since when is Relic working on the MMO? I thought this was a Vigil thing....
They profited on Homefront. They needed like 2 mil to break even and they sold 3.