THQ files for bankrupcy

[Deverz]

"Today THQ announced that it has secured an investor, a private equity firm named Clearlake Capital Group, who is interested in purchasing most of what you think makes up THQ: the teams that make the games (Relic, THQ Montreal, Vigil and Volition), THQ’s Intellectual Property (titles, source code, etc.), THQ’s contracts (like the ones with Crytek, South Park Digital Studios, 4A games, Obsidian, and Turtle Rock) and the support staff that are required to help the teams succeed

http://au.ign.com/articles/2012/12/19/thq-files-for-bankruptcy
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/12/thq-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy/

Seems like they will be continuing to make games but they have another financial interest to please. That's if I'm reading it correctly

 

[Mkilbride]

Well, we all knew it was coming.

Still, sad...somewhat. My opinion is that Dawn of War II was the kicker here, really. Regardless of how you may feel about it, it got terrible reviews and worse sales...they tried to "innovate", but people bought Dawn of War II, thinking it was a sequel to Dawn of War.

However, it wasn't even a RTS anymore, it was RTT...a different genre entirely. Also, more repetitive than Call of Duty.

 

[Deathshot]

Why am I not surprised about this?

 

[Zeonix]

Well, we all knew it was coming.

Still, sad...somewhat. My opinion is that Dawn of War II was the kicker here, really. Regardless of how you may feel about it, it got terrible reviews and worse sales...they tried to "innovate", but people bought Dawn of War II, thinking it was a sequel to Dawn of War.

However, it wasn't even a RTS anymore, it was RTT...a different genre entirely. Also, more repetitive than Call of Duty.

I don't know that I'd call that completely accurate. I'm sure DoW2 didn't sell as well as they had hoped, but it was and continues to be a great game, along with its expansions. I'd sooner blame their demise on Darksiders 1/2.

 

[macdaddymario]

How about the wrestling titles they come out with year after year and don't change much? You can do something like that with Madden, MLB and Fifa because they are extremely popular sports. WWF/E however, isn't.. so putting that money year after year into them, when they should know by now the average sales they make doesn't seem like the best move in the world.

 

[sub]

Darksiders 1/2 sold well enough. Their trouble (really, there is no demise, they'll probably be fine after the bankruptcy) is a result of their focus on licensed titles, which weren't selling as well as they needed, and which they got a lower profit margin on anyway. Even more so than that, uDraw really bled them dry, they lost hundreds of millions on that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UDraw_GameTablet

 

[Zeonix]

Darksiders 1/2 sold well enough. Their trouble (really, there is no demise, they'll probably be fine after the bankruptcy) is a result of their focus on licensed titles, which weren't selling as well as they needed, and which they got a lower profit margin on anyway. Even more so than that, uDraw really bled them dry, they lost hundreds of millions on that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UDraw_GameTablet

http://www.gamezone.com/products/darksiders-ii/news/thq-darksiders-2-sales-below-expectations

 

[sub]

Fair enough, they needed to sell 2 million to break even on the title. Coming up short didn't help, but it's hardly the reason why they're doing terrible. uDraw and shitty licensed games are the problem.

 

[Mkilbride]

Yes, Darksiders 2 sucked.

However, Darksiders 1 sold more copies than DOW1+2, don't consider that a failure.

 

[Zeonix]

Yes, Darksiders 2 sucked.

However, Darksiders 1 sold more copies than DOW1+2, don't consider that a failure.

I'm sure it also cost more to make as DoW is a PC-only game.

 

[sub]

Who knows.

On one hand you have to pay console licensing fees.
On the other hand you have to pay fees for the Dawn of War license.

I would imagine that RTS games cost less to make, though.

 

[Grega]

The sad thing is that THQ has a bunch of releases that are really superb, but go under the radar because they are not as known as similar other titles. Take Saints Row for example. After the mediocre SR2 port, SR3 sold poorly even though its a lot more fun than GTA ever was after moving to 3D IMHO, simply because it was way under the radar when it released.

 

[Mkilbride]

Eh.

GTA4, with tons of mods was incredibly fun. I liked Saints Row 3, but between the two, I played GTA4 more, as there was simply funner gunplay and physics.

Though, I never finished either.

 

[Grega]

Eh.

GTA4, with tons of mods was incredibly fun. I liked Saints Row 3, but between the two, I played GTA4 more, as there was simply funner gunplay and physics.

Though, I never finished either.

You said it yourself. With mods. SR3 is just the random bullshit over the top style that GTA had with its first 2 releases. Before they started making a movie style story involved. SR is just plain nonsense bullshit action and that makes it fun. Its something GTA lost though the years.

 

[Zeonix]

The sad thing is that THQ has a bunch of releases that are really superb, but go under the radar because they are not as known as similar other titles. Take Saints Row for example. After the mediocre SR2 port, SR3 sold poorly even though its a lot more fun than GTA ever was after moving to 3D IMHO, simply because it was way under the radar when it released.

SR3 sold 5.5 million copies, with the franchise clocking in over 11 million. That isn't too bad.

Also, had way more fun with SR3 than GTA4.

 

[Grega]

SR3 sold 5.5 million copies, with the franchise clocking in over 11 million. That isn't too bad.

Also, had way more fun with SR3 than GTA4.

But compared to GTA itself its still nothing more than a drop in a lake. SR is just to overshadowed by GTA to be comparable even though it is probably more fun out of the box.

 

[Zeonix]

The two games weren't competing, so 11 million sales is still pretty good.

 

[IFlip92]

I think Saints Row is overly retarded imo. The only way I could make sense of that game is by making a character that resembled the Joker and trying to impersonate him somehow, and even then I found it difficult to enjoy it because Joker is hyper-sane not hyper-stupid or hyper-retarded and did everything with either subliminal intelligent messages or for a deeper meaning or purpose. But I am getting off track here.

THQ has degraded over the ages, they failed to capture Death's sense of maturity/age, intelligence, his power and pretty much anything of his character was off in Darksiders 2 completely therefore people didn't really recommend the buy so sales went down. What I love about THQ though is that over the years they have come up with some brilliant IPs but never able to catch a lucky stride because of them being overshadowed too much by other titles. Feel bad for them really as with their bankruptcy declared they will start losing more and more of their control over their releases with new sponsors and stuff getting a bigger share and bigger say in their company...

 

[Mkilbride]

Well, the biggest issue I found with Darksiders II is Death was very underwhelming, as a Horsemen.

War, stripped of all his power, was intimidating, fierce, and believable as a power. Death, stripped of his power, was like a child. He put on raggy pants he found off LV1 Enemies...LV.1 enemies could infact kill him. Also the fact is, Death was stronger than War, regardless of power. The leveling stuff also is stupid when you consider this is the Grim Reaper; whom has taken entire worlds, and people of all creation fear him. But a generic, LV.1 Enemy can beat him.

The game wasn't hard, if that's what you take from what I said. But the fact is, making it more RPG was a bad idea. Darksiders 1 was an ARPG, much like Devil May Cry / Zelda. It worked. Adding levels, random loot drops, shops, and such, ala Diablo III was a mistake for a series like this.

I couldn't suspend my disbelief at how pathetic Death seemed. Not to mention the comics said he was cold, calculating, didn't talk much, but was very mature. Well mannered, even. In Darksiders II, he seems young, immature, he trash talks, and he asks about stupid stuff that anyone would half a brain cell would understand. War didn't talk much...but when he did, you really "felt" it, he played his Character well. Honor-bound to the core. A great rage inside of him, always bubbling. He was War made flesh.

Also annoyed they decided to make them the children of Angels & Demons. I mean, it's an old concept, yes, but the first Darksiders had them as an Ancient race, the first God created, destroyed internally. Immensely powerful, made more so by the Council. Now they're just the children of Angels & Demons and don't exactly seem nearly as impressive or unique.

Darksiders 1 was rough around the edges, but I found it incredibly hard to put down and thoroughly enjoyed it. Darksiders II had me incredibly excited...I had seen videos and thought it might work...but no. Gear dropping from almost every Enemy, 90% of it being useless..the addition of towns, vendors, NPC's, and minor quests out of something like Skyrim. The massive amounts of back tracking and the uninspired enemies. A game like this should be 10-12 hours, at best, as was Darksiders 1.

The characters, gameplay, and locations aren't exactly that exciting and get stale quick.

 

[IFlip92]

Well, the biggest issue I found with Darksiders II is Death was very underwhelming, as a Horsemen.

War, stripped of all his power, was intimidating, fierce, and believable as a power. Death, stripped of his power, was like a child. He put on raggy pants he found off LV1 Enemies...LV.1 enemies could infact kill him. Also the fact is, Death was stronger than War, regardless of power. The leveling stuff also is stupid when you consider this is the Grim Reaper; whom has taken entire worlds, and people of all creation fear him. But a generic, LV.1 Enemy can beat him.

I couldn't suspend my disbelief at how pathetic Death seemed. Not to mention the comics said he was cold, calculating, didn't talk much, but was very mature. Well mannered, even. In Darksiders II, he seems young, immature, he trash talks, and he asks about stupid stuff that anyone would half a brain cell would understand. War didn't talk much...but when he did, you really "felt" it, he played his Character well. Honor-bound to the core. A great rage inside of him, always bubbling. He was War made flesh.

The characters, gameplay, and locations aren't exactly that exciting and get stale quick.

Exactly my thoughts but higher details than what I mentioned. Thank you @Mkilbride. I think Death is best portrayed in the Supernatural TV Series and if they went with that they couldn't have gone wrong. This literally sums up death:
[video=youtube;kt2mH4PpSkk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt2mH4PpSkk[/video]

And there's a few more scenes which make him even more intimidating... That calm, quiet, well-spoken and composed voice gives me the chills.

In DK2 I feel not even 1/100th as powerful as that. I think DK1 was awesome and the only thing that needed improving was a thing that I think most games lack these days. Physical impact of forces applied. The best game I played for that was Splinter Cell Conviction when you interrogate people. I have never taken more pleasure in smashing someones head against the sink and proper feeling as if I did it with my bare hands ever lol.

I hope we are not going too much off-topic here even though it's somewhat relevant to THQ.