THQ Expands Casual Games Division

THQ has announced a new partnership designed to make it one of the most important players on the rapid growing casual games market. As the owner of a diverse portfolio of games, ranging from fantasy RTS games like the Warhammer franchise to wrestling simulators created in partnership with Jacks, THQ sees a clear opportunity in casual games and has taken a few clear steps to profit from it.

Elephant Entertainment will be acquired outright by THQ to create a new internal division responsible for the development of games that offer addictive gameplay with little complexity and clearly defined gameplay. Wim Stocks, formerly vice president of Atari and current president and Chief Operations Officer for Elephant Games, will now be reporting to Doug Clemmer, who is the president of ValuSoft, THQ's own casual division. The goal is to create and market some 20 games this year alone targeted at the casual market. No other details, like platforms for which the games will be developed or estimated release dates, have been offered.

Oberon Games is targeted in a deal regarding the publishing rights to the company's already well established casual games catalog. THQ has signed a partnership which is aimed at bringing games like Cake Mania 2 or Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet to a variety of platforms. All production work will be handled by Oberon, while THQ will take care of all the activities related to distribution and marketing.

Doug Clemmer commented that: "The addition of Elephant Entertainment and our exclusive retail publishing deal with Oberon significantly expands the depth and breadth of our casual and online game offering. These deals will allow us to expand our presence in this rapidly growing segment and deliver unique value to our retail partners through Oberon's turn-key solution to deliver online games."

It's anyone's guess whether THQ's move will prompt other major publishers to acquire or enter partnerships with developers from the casual games medium.