THQ Doomsday Update: Sega, Crytek, Others Reveal Plans
THQ is dead. Long live... er, not THQ. But its motionless remains haven't gone undisturbed. A number of major publishers descended, vulture-like, to make off with the choicest cuts money could buy. And also Homefront. Yesterday, however, we had no idea what exactly was next for the likes of Metro, Saints Row, Company of Heroes, Darksiders, and South Park. Sure, they've found new homes, but will they fit in? Or will they be forced to live in the cramped cupboards of neglect, with nary a wizarding school in sight? Well, it's still a bit early to say for sure, but - based on comments from each publisher - things are at least looking up.
Are you ready for some highly pleased videogame executive quotes? Of course you are. You live for them. So let's take it from the top. First up, here's Sega on Relic. In short, Company of Heroes 2 is safe, and the once-upon-a-time console behemoth has no plans to move Relic away from our platform of choice. Specifically, the publisher claims to have snapped up Relic in order to "further reinforce PC game development capabilities in the U.S. and European regions." Hey Sega, you know what'd help you do that? Like, a lot? Another Dawn of War. And also Homeworld. Just do it.
For Crytek and Homefront 2, meanwhile, it's pretty much business as usual. “From day one, the Homefront 2 team has been committed to creating a game that takes the series to new heights and features the level of quality and innovation associated with Crytek,” said GM Nick Button-Brown. "Nothing has changed with regards our development of the game, and we look forward to sharing the finished product with players."
Next up, Ubisoft. The newly (sorta) PC-friendly behemoth gobbled up both South Park and Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Désilets' mysterious "1666" project. Now, though, Ubisoft's voicing uncertainty over whether or not Désilets himself will eagle-leap back into Ubisoft's conveniently placed hay bale of a heart. Further, it sounds like South Park's facing a delay, with Ubisoft banishing it from March to "calendar year 2013."
Things are looking significantly better for Metro and Saints Row - both of which will continue uninterrupted under the supervision of Koch Media and Deep Silver. Yes, Dead-Island-torso-shaped-controversy-lightning-rod Deep Silver. That in mind, Saints Row's holy-grail-hammering antics are actually a pretty good fit, I suppose. Also in the good news category: both Volition and 4A Games will continue development duties on their respective games. So, pending any layoffs or what have you, all's well.
Sadly, not everyone made it out of THQ's megaton crash unscathed. Darksiders developer Vigil received zero bids and has, as a result, been shut down completely. Naturally, Japanese action guru Platinum Games then expressed interest in the Darksiders license. So I suppose that's something. But this thoroughly heartbreaking goodbye from Vigil's lead combat designer is evidence that "something" wasn't quite enough.
So that's pretty much the whole of it - at least, for now. Even so, everyone's now in "transition" mode, so expect more fallout in the coming weeks. Fingers crossed that more layoffs aren't on the way, but - to be perfectly honest - I'm not getting my hopes up.