Jason Rubin: 'massive mistakes' brought THQ to its own demise

Former THQ president Jason Rubin believes the company would have survived its hardships were it not for "massive mistakes," all made prior to his joining THQ in March 2012, he said in a recent interview with MCVUK.

Rubin said THQ's survival was dependent on its restructuring, which resulted in the company filing for bankruptcy and holding an auction to liquidate its assets rather than being acquired by another company.

"I think it is incorrect to attribute THQ's predicament with overall changes in the industry," Rubin said. "To be sure, all triple-A publishers have been under pressure, but THQ had every chance to survive had it not made massive mistakes."

According to Rubin, these mistakes include "incredible losses" due to the failed uDraw tablet, money wasted on the cancelled Warhammer 40,000 MMO, a push for more casual and children's games "far after" the mobile initiative "killed the business," a "generally haphazard and inefficient approach to deal making" and publishing "otherwise inferior titles like Homefront."

"There are certainly things to be said about challenges in the mid-tier triple-A publishing business, but I don't think that conflating it with THQ's experience is helpful," he added.

The former president said he could blame THQ's failure on bad luck, but the "sea of bad decisions" the company made is hard to ignore.

"I think that luck plays a role in success and failure, but THQ's decisions and execution were the major reason for its failure," he said.