NEWS

THQ has been sold, buyers announced


THQ's properties have officially been sold off to the highest bidders, ending several years of financial turmoil.

A letter issued by THQ's CEO Jason Rubin details which companies purchased which IPs.
“The proposed sales of multiple assets is as follows: Sega agreed to purchase Relic, Koch Media agreed to purchase Volition and Metro, Crytek agreed to purchase Homefront, Take 2 agreed purchase Evolve, and Ubisoft agreed to purchase Montreal and South Park,” said Rubin.

“We expect these sales to close this week.”
Crytek has apparently purchased the Homefront IP for $500,000, while Koch picked up the Metro IP for $5.8 million and Volition for $22.8 million. Ubisoft purchased the South Park: Stick of Truth IP for $3.2 million and purchased THQ's Montreal studio for $2.5 million.

SEGA purchased Relic for $26 million and Take-Two purchased an unannounced Evolve game from Turtle Rock Studios for $11 million. Total amount for all assets totaled around $100 million.

According to reports, no bid was put in for Darksiders developer Vigil Games. However, ZeniMax Media put in a back-up bid for Relic in case SEGA's bid falls through. Ubisoft also put in back up offers for Volition and the Metro IP. Turtle Rock Studios also put in a back up offer for their own IP Evolve.

It was also made clear that certain THQ assets would remain part of the Chapter 11 process, including Vigil.
“We expect that most employees of the entities included in the sale will be offered employment by the new owners,” Rubin continued. “However, we cannot say what these owners may intend, and there will likely be some positions that will not be needed under the new ownership. You should receive notice this week or early next week if the new owners intend to extend employment to you.

“If you are an employee of an entity that is not included in the sale, we regret that your position will end. A small number of our headquarters staff will continue to be employed by THQ beyond January 25 to assist with the transition. THQ has sufficient resources to pay these employees for work going forward, and we will be contacting these employees immediately to ensure their continued employment during this transition period.

“We are requesting the ability to offer certain severance pay to minimize disruption for employees of non-included entities as they determine the next steps in their careers.”
Rubin also stated that a meeting will take place with what's left of THQ's employees tomorrow, January 24, to further along the process.

Here's hoping that everyone affected by this THQ mess will land on their feet.