THQ files for bankruptcy
THQ is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
THQ is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The beleaguered company has seen tough times over the years, with uDraw being a large part for many of the company's woes. In a prepared statement, the company says that its operations, including the ongoing development of its games, will be unaffected as the publisher has secured interim financing. Some noteworthy titles on THQ's slate include the upcoming South Park RPG, Metro: Last Light, Company of Heroes 2, Homefront 2, and the next Saints Row title.
"All of the company's studios remain open, and all development teams continue. The company remains confident in its existing pipeline of games. THQ maintains relationships with some of the top independent development studios around the globe," the press release stated.
Affiliates of Clearlake Capital Group LIP will acquire assets of THQ's business. Providing the court approves of THQ's "first-day motions," the company expects Clearlake to assume any contracts with aforementioned third-party studios.
THQ recently ran a controversial Humble Bundle, which raised many millions of dollars. However, it's clear that the cash raised from the sale could not delay today's announcement.
"The sale and filing are necessary next steps to complete THQ's transformation and position the company for the future, as we remain confident in our existing pipeline of games, the strength of our studios and THQ's deep bench of talent," THQ CEO Brian Farrell said. "We are grateful to our outstanding team of employees, partners and suppliers who have worked with us through this transition. We are pleased to have attracted a strong financial partner for our business, and we hope to complete the sale swiftly to make the process as seamless as possible."
Jason Rubin, who joined THQ as their president in May, also commented: "We have incredible, creative talent here at THQ. We look forward to partnering with experienced investors for a new start as we will continue to use our intellectual property assets to develop high-quality core games, create new franchise titles, and drive demand through both traditional and digital channels."
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replyAndrew Yoon posted a new article, THQ files for bankruptcy.
THQ is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.-
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They have a lot of good stuff on the way in 2013, so there's a remote chance that they can pull through this. Very remote.
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None of their soon-to-be-released games should be affected.
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THQ won't be stopping operations yet, however heavy restructuring normally happens with a Chapter 11 so projects may get canned. I would be surprised if projects with expected profits would get canned altogether, however they may end up being sold to other companies to finish development.
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Read. The. Article.
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CoH2 will still happen, but I wonder about post-release support.
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Oh crud.
Fingers crossed that all their decent studios and IP's come out of this in a more stable position. -
It makes me wonder what assets are being sold :/
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Particularly a company like what THQ is trying to be :(
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Don't panic. Everything is fine: http://www.giantbomb.com/news/thq-simultaneously-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy-secures-buyer-for-companys-assets/4477/
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What about all the money they are making off the THQ Humble Bumble is that assets they will take in without bankruptcy? I wonder if that money is what they used to file bankruptcy.
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lets say they pulled in like 2.5 million, that's not nearly enough to keep the company running and cover marketing required for the games coming out next year, they still need money to pay off debt interest and keep staff.
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They probably need the bundle money to give severance packages ;-)
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Damn.
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nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Sad day for gamers. -
The end of an era.
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Here is the bankruptcy doc filed : http://www.kccllc.net/documents/8826100/8826100121219000000000002.pdf
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I want them to turn around so badly. I've been buying all their stuff in the hopes that it happens. They used to be a shovelware company with crappy kids games and movie tie-ins and the rasslin' games. Then they started accuiring good stuff and opening up new IPs, and it makes me sad to see that doing what the customers want is not going well for them.
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DONT PANIC, they already have been saved. http://www.thq.com/us/go/article/view/homepage_article/261277/thq_community_message_from_jason_rubin?utm_source=Social&utm_medium=General&utm_campaign=THQ
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Clearlake is one of those private equity firms that jump at distressed companies, like Cerberus, Elliott, Blackstone, etc. What they say they're doing right now with THQ's assets may be different from what they actually do. Jason Rubin is simply trying to calm the troops.
While it's a better situation than Chapter 7, private equity firms can do things to companies that end up hurting the final product. Priority one of a private equity firm is to make maximum profit out of the distressed corporate entity. They could end up selling entire studios or IP portfolios to other publishers to make a ton more money than reviving the company wholly intact.-
The archvile, of course their number one priority is to make the company turn a profit. That's the whole point of a company. It was the whole point of THQ existing at all, and they have apparently failed, and so someone else coming in to change things to actually work is most likely a good thing. The alternative is they close their doors forever. :(
You act like THQ changing is a bad thing, but the reality is that the way THQ was functioning was bad!-
That said, this is not going to be a magical transition where everything's rescued and saved. It does seem odd that Clearlake is throwing down enough capital to finish development and distribution for the games currently in THQ's pipeline. One part of me thinks, "Where the hell did that money come from? And if it was just what Clearlake set aside for the Chapter 11 announcement, where do they plan to recoup that money?"
Remember, this is not salvation. This is acquisition. I anticipate at least 1 or 2 divestitures of IP and/or studio staff within the next 2 years.
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LIKE Cerberus. Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that acquired Chrysler from Daimler and sold them off to Fiat? Cerberus also sold off its stake in Freedom Group, the holding company that owns Remington and Bushmaster, in a panic move after last week's shooting incident in Sandy Hook. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-guns-fallout-20121219,0,282794.story
Elliott Management is currently amping up its stakes in Emulex and Compuware:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/14/emulex_elliott/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/17/elliott_buy_offer_compuware/-
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Including the laid-off workers?
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of course people are going to lose their job in this situation, it's better than everyone losing their jobs when the company goes down the toilet.
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Sometimes it's worse for those who aren't laid off.
Some acquisitions are dirtier than others; I hope that THQ's is relatively clean, but I'm not putting blind faith in "salvation".
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HW2 was so awesome, such good memories. I need HW3 too.
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This does a pretty good job of explaining that Chapter 11 is not the same fucking thing as "the company is closing". The amount of misinformed people (and even journalists!) today around the web has been pretty annoying!
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I would love to see a tell-all book or something about exactly what caused THQ's current predicament. You don't make that many highly acclaimed games and then go bankrupt without some serious mismanagement, bad contracts, or other crazy drama involved.
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uDraw Tablet and not having the kids games or wrestling sales to catch them when they fell. If not for Saints Row 3's success they would have been in a much worse position much earlier.
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WOOOOO! NOW MAKE HOMEWORLD 3 WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!!
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Support THQ to survive for next year and I will buy whole games to give $$ to the THQ. THQ is the great game company ever! :[
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