Polygon - THQ's path to bankruptcy and beyondhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/42931/favicon.ico2014-10-31T17:40:41-04:00http://www.polygon.com/rss/stream/35500992014-10-31T17:40:41-04:002014-10-31T17:40:41-04:00THQ's de Blob rights picked up by Nordic Games
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<p>More than 18 months after <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/22/4254224/nordic-games-thq-purchase">Nordic Games</a> snapped up rights to THQ franchises Darksiders, Red Faction and more from <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2012/12/19/3786058/thq-bankruptcy">the bankrupt publisher</a>, Nordic announced today it has acquired the de Blob intellectual property from the company.</p>
<p>"de Blob is just a great and truly unique franchise," Reinhard Pollice, business and product development director at Nordic Games, said in a statement. "We are excited about what the future holds for this polychromatic extravaganza as the newest addition to our portfolio. We will evaluate opportunities with the existing games, as well as potential sequels."</p>
<p>Nordic Games was one of a handful of companies that purchased intellectual property rights to THQ's games. Vienna-based <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/22/4252414/nordic-games-thq-ip-auction-darksiders-red-faction-homeworld">Nordic spent $4.9 million for...</a></p>
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https://www.polygon.com/2014/10/31/7140401/thq-de-blob-rights-nordic-gamesMichael McWhertor2014-05-28T11:28:51-04:002014-05-28T11:28:51-04:00THQ's abandoned office is a ghost town full of video game relics
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<p>When THQ declared bankruptcy and dissolved, it abandoned its office, leaving boxes, games, marketing materials and more behind, according to a gallery created by <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/26oc8a/inside_thq_building/">Reddit user Soulessgingr</a>. </p>
<p><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>The Redditor works for a company that moved into THQ's former headquarters. According to Soulessgingr, the THQ office includes abandoned hardware like cables, monitors, routers and TVs.</p>
<p><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>"It seems the building owner paid THQ for all the stuff they left," <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/26oc8a/inside_thq_building/cht01cl">Soulessgingr wrote</a>. </p>
<p>But more important to video game fans, the office is also littered with video game awards, boxes and promotional materials for former THQ games like <a href="http://www.polygon.com/game/south-park-the-stick-of-truth/3650"><i>South Park: The Stick of Truth</i></a>, which found new life at Ubisoft, <i>Saints Row the Third: Enter the Dominatrix</i>, a planned <a href="http://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/6/20/3098777/saints-row-3-expansion-no-longer-in-development-content-merging-with">s...</a></p>
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https://www.polygon.com/2014/5/28/5757798/thq-abandoned-office-picturesDave Tach2013-10-09T17:54:56-04:002013-10-09T17:54:56-04:00EA discussed buyout of THQ a year before it went bankrupt, say court docs
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<p>Electronic Arts and THQ discussed a potential buyout of THQ, the former Darksiders, Saints Row and Red Faction publisher, as early as December 2011, a year before the company filed for bankruptcy, according to documents filed in Delaware district court this week.</p>
<p>Those discussions came about after THQ began exploring strategic alternatives, including a sale of the entire company to private equity or industry partner, as the defunct publisher's financial position continued to decline, the document says. THQ allegedly approached Electronic Arts for the sale, based on EA's interest in acquiring the UFC license.</p>
<p>At their meetings, THQ provided EA with internal financial information, including sales data and marketing projections for the...</p>
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https://www.polygon.com/2013/10/9/4821598/ea-discussed-buyout-of-thq-a-year-before-it-went-bankrupt-say-courtMichael McWhertor2013-10-09T17:28:30-04:002013-10-09T17:28:30-04:00THQ sues UFC and EA over UFC video game license
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<p>Defunct publisher THQ is suing Electronic Arts and Zuffa, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="/franchise/ufc/771">UFC</a> video game license, which THQ formerly held and EA now possesses.</p>
<p>In the complaint, which THQ filed on Oct. 4 in U.S. District Court in Delaware, THQ alleges that EA and Zuffa worked together to bring about the termination of THQ's licensing agreement with Zuffa for the UFC series, as well as the transfer of that agreement to EA.</p>
<p>THQ originally signed a licensing agreement with Zuffa in January 2007 to produce UFC video games. Under the deal, the publisher released three well-received UFC titles: <i><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="/game/ufc-undisputed-2009/2042">UFC Undisputed 2009</a></i> (May 2009), <i><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="/game/ufc-undisputed-2010/2037">UFC Undisputed 2010</a></i> (May 2010) and <i><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="/game/ufc-undisputed-3/1992">UFC Undisputed 3</a></i> (February 2012). But by...</p>
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https://www.polygon.com/2013/10/9/4820836/thq-ea-zuffa-ufc-video-game-license-lawsuitSamit Sarkar2013-06-18T23:00:04-04:002013-06-18T23:00:04-04:00Nordic Games' plans for THQ titles in early stages, Deadly Creatures high on the list
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<p>Young video game company <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/22/4254224/nordic-games-thq-purchase">Nordic Games</a> now owns the majority of bankrupt publisher THQ's most famous properties, including Darksiders, Red Faction and the MX series. Its plans for those franchises are still gelling, says Reinhard Pollice, Nordic Games' business and product development director.</p>
<p>But Nordic Games may soon have news to share about its recently purchased properties, Pollice tells Polygon.</p>
<p>Nordic Games acquired "substantially all" of THQ's remaining intellectual property in April in a <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/22/4252414/nordic-games-thq-ip-auction-darksiders-red-faction-homeworld">$4.9 million bid</a> that gave the company ownership of dozens of franchises and rights to publish certain games on certain consoles. Following the approval of that sale by the bankruptcy court, Nordic has found itself in the process of acquiring...</p>
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https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/18/4443524/nordic-games-thq-deadly-creatures-red-faction-darksiders-titan-questMichael McWhertor2013-05-09T11:30:07-04:002013-05-09T11:30:07-04:00THQ 'couldn't change fast enough,' says former exec Danny Bilson (update)
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<p>Danny Bilson joined now-bankrupt publisher THQ in 2008 to help shift it from a licensed and kids' games company to a core games publisher, but the company "couldn't change fast enough," he said yesterday at the GameHorizon conference.</p>
<p>When he arrived at THQ as executive vice president of core games, the company had 17 different studios, but "six of them didn't know what they were making," said Bilson. So he was tasked with visiting the teams and helping them figure out what to work on, a process he described as "the most awesome job I've ever had in my life."</p>
<p>But about eight weeks into his tenure, he was told the company had to cut about half of its production budget, which meant that the promising projects he had just greenlit would...</p>
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https://www.polygon.com/2013/5/9/4315538/thq-danny-bilson-couldnt-change-fast-enoughSamit Sarkar2013-04-26T02:26:10-04:002013-04-26T02:26:10-04:00THQ creditors claim hundreds of millions owed, include Double Fine, Microsoft, UFC
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<p>Bankrupt publisher THQ has a lengthy list of creditors seeking money from the former video game maker, with more than $200 million in claims to date from various parties filed against THQ Inc. and its subsidiaries since the company <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2012/12/19/3784984/thq-files-for-bankruptcy-protection-selling-studios-and-games">filed for bankruptcy protection</a> in December.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kccllc.net/Creditor/CR130.asp">Claims registered</a> in THQ Inc.'s bankruptcy case range from as little as $2.98 from a Tennessee tax assessor to as high as $39 million from UK-based THQ Holdings Ltd. over money loaned to the publisher. Claims against THQ subsidiaries and studios like Volition Inc., Vigil Games, THQ Wireless and THQ Digital Studios Phoenix are also included in the claims register. Hundreds of companies and individuals are seeking money from THQ.</p>
<p>Included among the claimants are...</p>
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https://www.polygon.com/2013/4/26/4257540/thq-creditor-claims-double-fine-microsoft-codemastersMichael McWhertor2013-04-23T16:00:54-04:002013-04-23T16:00:54-04:00The future of Darksiders, Red Faction and THQ's other IP at Nordic Games
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<p>In an industry thick with creators, Lars Wingefors is an unapologetic business man first, perhaps only.</p>
<p>"I've seen bad experiences with trying to handle creative people," said Wingefors, self-described entrepreneur and owner of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/22/4254224/nordic-games-thq-purchase">Nordic Games Group</a> and Wingefors Invest. "So we don't have any internal developers and I don't intend to."</p>
<p>Typically that wouldn't be a problem for a game distributor, but as of yesterday afternoon unofficially, and next month officially, Wingefors' Nordic Games will be <a target="_blank" href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/22/4252414/nordic-games-thq-ip-auction-darksiders-red-faction-homeworld">the owner of more than 150 individual titles, rights to titles and video game franchises</a>, each the beloved orphan of THQ's steady disintegration.</p>
<p>It will be up to Wingefors and his business team in Austria to decide what to do with the likes of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/23/4256354/nordic-games-promises-to-look-into-mx-vs-atvs-missing-dlc-downed">M...</a></p>
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https://www.polygon.com/2013/4/23/4257466/the-future-of-darksiders-red-faction-and-thqs-other-ip-at-nordic-gamesBrian Crecente