14 DAY TRIAL // A host of reports say that publisher THQ has axed more than a few studios and that further cuts might be on the cards as the company is looking to cut expenses significantly in the wake of falling sales and a world wide credit crunch.
Gamasutra states that Paradigm Entertainment, which was bought from Atari in 2006 and created Stuntman: Ignition launched last year, was the hardest hit. All the employees of the studio were laid off and it pretty much ceased to exist.
Juice Games, set in the United Kingdom, which is creating the Juiced racing franchise, has also seen a big cut, with one third of its staff fired. At least, the studio is still creating games.
Mass Media, based in San Francisco, was also closed down and Helixe, which worked on the Nintendo DS version of de Blob, is also no longer on the map of developers for THQ. An internal e-mail is also quoted as saying that Locomotive Games and Sandblast Games, which have been working on the Destroy All Humans franchise, are closed down while significant layoffs are reported at Rainbow Studios.
THQ is currently saying that these pieces of information are just rumors and that the official position of the company will be presented this Wednesday, when the overall report for the last quarter is presented to the public.
THQ is one of the smaller videogame publishers active at the moment. It seems that the company went on a spending spree, relying on easy access to credit and on the possibilities of a quick expansion. But the current situation of the world economy, which is seeing credit drying up, is forcing the company to control expenses and try to salvage those titles which can bring in significant revenue.