Without a doubt, one of the biggest pieces of news in the last week was the auction of THQ's internal studios and its different franchises. While THQ's bankruptcy plan initially mentioned that the company was going to be bought outright by another entity, creditors objected and forced the company to organize an auction in which all of its properties, be they franchises or studios, were going to be sold to the highest bidder, essentially stripping THQ of its legacy.
As we revealed,
plenty of companies got many of THQ's possessions. From Sega's purchase of Relic Entertainment and the Company of Heroes brand, to Deep Silver's acquisition of Volition plus the Saints Row and Metro franchises, to Ubisoft purchase of both THQ Montreal (alongside its two projects) and the rights to
South Park: The Stick of Truth. Crytek also got the
rights to Homefront, while Take-Two got the special project in development at Turtle Rock Studios.
While THQ will cease to exist soon enough, it's worth emphasizing that its legacy will remain.
THQ may have started out as a company focused on making quick money by creating licensed games aimed at kids, but in recent years it became a full-fledged quality publisher with lots of talented studios and plenty of popular franchises.
Sadly, a series of bad investments, starting with the uDraw tablet and culminating with big marketing expenses like those with Homefront 1, left the company in a bad shape.
While Saints Row 3's success helped alleviate some of the concerns, Darksiders 2's moderate performance and the fact that it delayed other titles like Metro: Last Light or Company of Heroes 2, forced THQ into bankruptcy.
The auction was a sad event, as it practically consisted of the desecration of THQ's image, but at least most of the franchises are now owned by other companies and we'll get to see THQ's legacy, even if its name won't be on the covers of Company of Heroes 2, Metro: Last Light, Saints Row 4, and other such games.
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