THQ's For Coming

THQ announced late last year that it would be filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy as it had run into significant financial problems. It was initially expected (as reported here) that the clear lake capital investment group would be bankrolling its operations until they could buy the company outright and it would continue as a whole in that manner until it got back on its feet.

This didn't happen. Their creditors and a government trustee filled objections saying that THQ had rigged the proceedings so it would be more fair to them than it would be to the creditors. A judge ruled in their favour and bidding was opened with the deadline set for January 22nd.

Well the bidding for the pieces of THQ ended today and here's how it all ended up.

The good folks at Sega took home Relic Studios and the Company Of Heroes IP ($26.6m).

Ubisoft picked up the South Park: The Stick Of Truth ($3.3m), THQ Montreal's studio along with two unannounced game IP's Underdog and 1666 ($2.5m) which had only been revealed through the bankruptcy proceedings.

Take-Two Interactive bought the Evolve IP ($10.9m)..

Crytek GmbH nabbed the Homefront IP rights ($544,218).

Volition Studios  and the licenses for Saints Row and Metro (including 2033 and 2034) went to Koch Media GmbH (also known in the states as Deep Silver).

One thing I wanted to make sure was clear about that last one. Koch Media. I know ethical shoppers will be aware of a particular pair of politically active businessmen in america with a similar sounding name. I want to assure you that the company Koch Media is not affiliated with them. 

Koch Media is a company that started in Germany in the early 90's by a couple of German guys. So yeah, buying games from Deep Silver does not support those with nefarious schemes for world domination. Unless Franz and Klemens have been playing that one particularly close to their chests.

Between all of this and Atari filing for the same chapter 11 bankruptcy you could be forgiven for believing that the games industry is dying. And in some ways it is. 

The games industry, as with any new industry, is volatile and probably will be for the next 50 years. But then it will have been forced to evolve by market forces so much that really at the end of the day it will be so much stronger.

So while it may be sad to say farewell to what we consider to be old friends. There is a lot to be hopeful for in the future of gaming. Just keep supporting games and studios you love and the rest will follow.

*sometimes wonders if opera is on to something*

Sources: Joystiq, Koch Media (now with 100% less evil)

Slow News Cycle

So its the end of the year. Its usually pretty quiet around this time. Everyone's enjoying the period after Christmas, in which, no one does anything, nothing important happens and we all wait for the cluster fuck that will be, the New Year. But there are a few stories of varying scale and scope that deserve our attention, even if its only peripherally.

THQ Goes Bankrupt

This sounds like a much bigger story than it is. All that really happened was that the company defaulted on a loan and filed for some protections so it wouldn't have to close down. Right now THQ is being propped up by the Clearlake Capital Group, who bought the company for a song, in the interim while it gets back on its feet. Amid fears of cutbacks in the wake of their filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy a press release from THQ had this to say:

“THQ does not intend to reduce its workforce as a result of the filing, and employees will continue to work their usual schedules and receive normal compensation and benefits, pending customary Court approval.”
So basically the bankruptcy doesn't affect consumers, besides a few titles being set back a few months to reduce costs and it doesn't affect employees at the company because they will keep their jobs and salaries. Its really just a few numbers being moved from one ledger to another.

No Code Heroes(?)

The good folks over at Kickstarter have had a phenomenal year. Since the unprecedented success of Double FineAdventure in March. New indie projects have been getting crowd-funding monies out the yin yang ever since.

One game in particular has been raising eyebrows though. I personally think its a much less sinister than it would seem but there is no question, that the Kickstarter campaign for Code Hero (a programming game/teaching tool) has been behaving rather oddly. 

The developer, having promised many features and regular updates about his project, suddenly became very quiet once the project was fully funded. Now, to me, this seems like just another case of an overly ambitious project leader, making promises,out of enthusiasm, that they cant realistically deliver on. I truly hope, however, that this game is completed because I, for one, am VERY interested in seeing the end result.

Games Of The Year: From What I've Heard

There has been a few picks from various sites and sources across the interwebs but no real answer about what the definitive game of the year was. Halo 4 Tops Amazons list of Best Sellers of 2012 but the subjective, best of the year, is never decided based on sales. 

There have been picks bandied about from TheWalking Dead, to Mass Effect 3. Farcry 3 has been a major contender in the running. And i'm sure someone is saying that CodBlops2 counts as some kind of interactive experience that. I believe those people are typically considered 'barely cognisant' so I'm not sure they count as people, but I digress. 

Since I have not played any of these games and have no money to do so in any kind of a timely fashion I will be picking one based entirely on what I've heard about it, what I'm interested in seeing about it and really, simply, how much the thought of playing it excites me. 

My Game Of The Year: From What I've Heard 2012 is Farcry 3. Having played Far Cry 2 rather extensively i feel that i know what to expect from Far Cry 3, but while FC2 was a hugely satisfying experience I could see that there was so much more unrealised potential in the title and its direction. It truly thrills me that, from  what I've heard, its really lived up to that potential.

*wonders when the next end of the world is happening*

Sources: Escapist, Kotaku, Kickstarter, VentureBeat, Softpedia