THQ - Most assets sold - another auction in May - Crytek to buy Darksiders IP

Blaster man

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I saw recently that THQ's stock is REAL low in price after the Udraw tablet nearly bankrupted them. It's roughly 58 cents a share right now. Back about 4-6 years ago it was $30 a share!

I don't really have much experience with the stock market but I do have experience with video games but I've never played Darksiders, was it any good? Will Darksiders 2 sell well enough to save the company? All I can think of is Apple going from $3 a share in 1997 to $685 now.

So, super risky investment, will Darksiders 2 save them? I'm sure it's coming out in June so they'll have some additional mid-year revenue. I looked at their future games for the year and it seems like a meager offering tbh.

edit 1/10/13:
Bidding procedures on post 207.

edit 1/23/13:
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Relic Entertainment
Makers of Company of Heroes
Winning bidder: Sega, $26.6 million.
Runner-up: Zenimax Media, $26.3 million.

THQ Montreal
Makers of 1666 and Underdog, titles under development.
Winning bidder: Ubisoft, $2.5 million. No runner-up.

Evolve
(title in development at Turtle Rock Studios)
Winning bidder: Take-Two Interactive, $10.894 million.
Runner-up: Turtle Rock Studios, $250,000.

Volition, Inc.
Maker of Saints Row
Winning bidder: Koch Media, $22,312,925.
Runner-up: Ubisoft, $5.4 million.

Homefront
Released 2011; due for a sequel.
Winning bidder: Crytek. $544,218.
No runner-up.

Metro
Series; due for the sequel Metro: Last Light.
Winning Bidder: Koch Media, $5,877,551
Runner-up: Ubisoft: $5.175 million.

South Park
License; South Park: The Stick of Truth is due for release March 5.
Winning bidder: Ubisoft, $3,265,306
No runner-up.

--

No bids for Vigil and the Darksiders IP apparently.[/QUOTE]


edit 1/24/13
Looks like everything else is going to be sold off at a seperate auction in a couple weeks. Nothing will be left. This will be your chance to pick up obscure an obscure IP no one wants for $1.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featur...inal-days.aspx

What happens to THQ's back catalog – especially for franchises that THQ once owned, but weren't sold off? What happens to properties like Darksiders and Red Faction?
There will be a separate process to sell off the back catalog and IP. That process will take place in the coming weeks.

Also of interest (this basically says there will be no company left to exit bankruptcy):
"And of course, unfortunately THQ’s non-development personnel are out of work as of the end of this week; this was a casualty of the court’s decision to allow piecemeal sale of assets."
 
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The game was a bore, got boring reviews, and sold a boring amount of copies. It didn't do terribly, and the game is by no means terrible, but nothing about it is impressive either.

I guess they could turn things around, though.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']The game was a bore, got boring reviews, and sold a boring amount of copies. It didn't do terribly, and the game is by no means terrible, but nothing about it is impressive either.

I guess they could turn things around, though.[/QUOTE]

So if they're counting on Darksiders 2 to get them through till the holidays, you're saying they're dead?
 
Not sure what they're situation is over there, but I doubt Darksiders 2 is going to break a million in sales. I guess the only thing going for it is that it's probably cheaper to develop than the original was, and if they sell a similar amount it may be good for them.

But this the summer of Diablo III, so, good luck to them.
 
Nope, THQ is going under sooner or later. If it's not this, then they have to look to Devil's Third or the next Metro game to save them. And none of those have the strength to save THQ.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']The game was a bore, got boring reviews, and sold a boring amount of copies. It didn't do terribly, and the game is by no means terrible, but nothing about it is impressive either.

I guess they could turn things around, though.[/QUOTE]

I thought it was kinda boring and just stopped playing it, had no desire to play it any further.

The only game that could POSSIBLY save THQ is Saints Row 4.
 
Well, their current book value is 29 cents. So that means if they shut down and liquidate all assets then pay off all debts, there would be 29 cents left per share to pay out to the shareholders. Obviously that is going to decline every day until they release Darksiders 2.
 
Saints the 3rd didn't even do very well for THQ. Darksiders was a under rated gem just like many games, Saints 3 included. I don't think that it will save THQ though. I hate to see a company go out of business, but a part of me can only think of someone else taking the WWE license and making a decent game.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']The game was a bore, got boring reviews, and sold a boring amount of copies. It didn't do terribly, and the game is by no means terrible, but nothing about it is impressive either.

I guess they could turn things around, though.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='jello44']I thought it was kinda boring and just stopped playing it, had no desire to play it any further.

The only game that could POSSIBLY save THQ is Saints Row 4.[/QUOTE]

I felt the same as you two... Darksiders wasn't anything special. And the sequel won't save THQ. I doubt even SR4 could save them since it likely won't be out for another year at the earliest.
 
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I think it might be worth a gamble. They're laying off a lot of people and have done a bunch of sales. They also cancelled the doomed Warhammer MMO and are instead converting it to a single player game with online component. I think they'll make it.

[quote name='McCHitman']Saints the 3rd didn't even do very well for THQ. Darksiders was a under rated gem just like many games, Saints 3 included. I don't think that it will save THQ though. I hate to see a company go out of business, but a part of me can only think of someone else taking the WWE license and making a decent game.[/QUOTE]

It turns out that Saint's Row the Third did quite well during the holiday season. Evidently it sold 3 million then!
 
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THQ won't shut down but it is very likely to be acquired for its still viable assets. This means even more layoffs but the good franchises should continue.

UDraw on Wii was a big hit. But they failed to consider the nature of the Wii market compared to the other consoles. It was the failure of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions that did the damage. The audience on those machines is generally more sophisticated and less likely to be enticed by something they could have on their PC twenty years ago if they were so inclined.
 
[quote name='epobirs']UDraw on Wii was a big hit. But they failed to consider the nature of the Wii market compared to the other consoles. It was the failure of the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions that did the damage. The audience on those machines is generally more sophisticated and less likely to be enticed by something they could have on their PC twenty years ago if they were so inclined.[/QUOTE]
There's just something about this paragraph that makes me laugh.

So god damn much.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']There's just something about this paragraph that makes me laugh.

So god damn much.[/QUOTE]

It's hard to avoid whenever the Wii must be mentioned. That name still makes me wish there was a camera recording when the name was first pitched to the Nintendo US management. Or even better, the UK management.

The phrase 'UDraw on Wii' reminds me of Bill Engvall's bit wondering what inspires men with genital piercings. Was a guy standing at a urinal, looking down and suddenly thinks, "Know what'd look good there? Ten penny nail."
 
[quote name='epobirs']It's hard to avoid whenever the Wii must be mentioned. That name still makes me wish there was a camera recording when the name was first pitched to the Nintendo US management. Or even better, the UK management.

The phrase 'UDraw on Wii' reminds me of Bill Engvall's bit wondering what inspires men with genital piercings. Was a guy standing at a urinal, looking down and suddenly thinks, "Know what'd look good there? Ten penny nail."[/QUOTE]
Actually, I was making an Xbox Live joke, but I admit that I left a lot of room for confusion.
 
see action games are sort of a Nitch genra like lets say fighters or RPG nuts. you got the dark souls and god of war fans that play the shit out of these things! =p

they do well for people that love those types of games but it's not going to be a game every gamer must preorder and buy and really thats fine. its good to make games like this! you just cant expect it to do so well that it'll be a company saver but more of something that makes at some some decent profit!


THQ just needs to make more quality games and sadly do more DLC stuff(but just not like capcom hehe). they are so focused on crap like wwe (which btw isn't main stream anymore due to PGing itself up) that people tend to skip a lot of their games =p
 
[quote name='epobirs']I meant sophistication as technology consumers. Not how they behave in online play.

Obligatory: http://store.penny-arcade.com/products/pat070381[/QUOTE]
I didn't mean behaviour either. I'll quote someone else who puts it better than I:

[quote name='the-ghetto.org']Look at what Xbox Live did. It convinced millions upon millions of people to pay a monthly fee for a peer-to-peer networking model. That is, “a central server uses minimal bandwidth and upkeep to organize the creation of online matches”. That is, little actual hosting is done by the server. That is, what Blizzard has been offering customers for free through Battle.net since they released Diablo in 1996. They convinced people to pay for the privilege of using their internet connection to do the heavy lifting in online video games! Using a networking format that generated inferior latency in first-person shooters![/quote]
 
[quote name='Blaster man']http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/05/thq-wont-be-around-in-six-months-says-take-two-ceo-zelnick/[/QUOTE]
That's funny. The CEO of one floundering company talking smack about another floundering company.

What sucks the worst is if both THQ and Take-Two(parent company of Rockstar Games) go down in flames or worse yet get bought out by either Activision or EA:puke:, then I will most likely NOT buy any of the series I normally would have if the original companies had been releasing them.

Why? Just look at Activision and/or EA's track records. Activision single handedly killed the music genre by whoring it out in as many incarnations as they could and well....EA is just fuckin' EA n I can't stand them anymore.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']That's funny. The CEO of one floundering company talking smack about another floundering company.

What sucks the worst is if both THQ and Take-Two(parent company of Rockstar Games) go down in flames or worse yet get bought out by either Activision or EA:puke:, then I will most likely NOT buy any of the series I normally would have if the original companies had been releasing them.

Why? Just look at Activision and/or EA's track records. Activision single handedly killed the music genre by whoring it out in as many incarnations as they could and well....EA is just fuckin' EA n I can't stand them anymore.[/QUOTE]

I just couldn't believe the shit talking. It's like he's on a forum flaming them. How the fuck does he know they're going out of business? Sure they're in bad shape but they've certainly been taking cost cutting measures. They laid off a shit-ton of people, changed the Warhammer MMO to a single player game, they've had TONS of sales. If darksiders is even REASONABLY successful, it will give them enough revenue to make it to the end of the year easily. They look like they have a lot of debt but in reality, it's not that bad. They have an UNTAPPED 75 million dollar credit line with Wells Fargo. That's why they look so indebted but they haven't drawn from it. Plus, i decided to buy some stock so they better not fucking go out of business. Let EA buy them, I'll open the champagne and caviar.
 
OMFG LOL!!!! THQ response. Also, Joystiq's youtube video on the page is fucking funny.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/05/thq-take-two-ceos-perception-is-outdated/

THQ has contacted Joystiq with a response to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick's dire prediction from this afternoon: "Obviously, Mr. Zelnick's perception of THQ is outdated and inaccurate. His comments are irresponsible and false. Perhaps he would be better off commenting on his own business."

- bold added by me as I thought it was funny.
 
Hopefully they can make it until South Park: The Game can get released.

I say that because I want it.

Other than that, I don't think they'll make it very long.
 
[quote name='advanced']Hopefully they can make it until South Park: The Game can get released.

I say that because I want it.

Other than that, I don't think they'll make it very long.[/QUOTE]

I've been looking at their earnings report and I listened to their earnings call. I've also been watching what they've done the last six weeks or so. I think they'll make it there. If Darksiders 2 fails, they're going out of business. If it's a moderate success then they make it to the holiday season easily. If it's a huge success then, assuming no additional dumbassary for the next 18 months, they're saved. They had 50 million in cash at the start of the year and were predicting 25 million left by the new quarter (this month). So assuming they managed to generate the revenue expected, they're burning through 25 million a quarter. So a huge success with Darksiders 2(maybe 2 million sold?) 2 and they'd be good for a minimum of another full year from that game's sales alone. A moderate success (1 million) and they can easily make it to Christmas. Half a million sold would probably let them make it to Christmas but they'll have to draw on their credit line. If they sell below 400k then they're gone.

Why are you so pessimistic about their finances? Obviously the above is all my opinion based on what I've looked at. Do you think Darksiders 2 will sell poorly?

Oh, and now Take Two CEO says he "regrets" saying it. IMO that's not much of an apology. It seems more like he regrets saying it because now everyone knows how much of a dick he is.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...ays-thq-doesn-39-t-have-long.aspx?PageIndex=2
 
[quote name='The Crotch']I didn't mean behaviour either. I'll quote someone else who puts it better than I:[/QUOTE]

The only problem is that this is wildly inaccurate in describing the situation. XBL brought multi-player to a vast number who would never have managed it under previous platforms due to the difficulties and annoyances involved. The number of PC gamers playing online is a tiny subset of what XBL could claim on the original Xbox, never mind the mature 360.

The XBL customers got exactly what they paid for. I had no interest in online multi-player and thus didn't pay a penny for XBL Gold until recently, when the other incentives became a convincing argument for the investment of $3 a month. I've more than made that up in DOTW items I purchased for the equivalent of $5 and $7.50 in points instead of $10 and $15. (Although I usually get the points at a discount too, making the purchases lower still.)
 
[quote name='epobirs']The only problem is that this is wildly inaccurate in describing the situation. XBL brought multi-player to a vast number who would never have managed it under previous platforms due to the difficulties and annoyances involved. The number of PC gamers playing online is a tiny subset of what XBL could claim on the original Xbox, never mind the mature 360.

The XBL customers got exactly what they paid for. I had no interest in online multi-player and thus didn't pay a penny for XBL Gold until recently, when the other incentives became a convincing argument for the investment of $3 a month. I've more than made that up in DOTW items I purchased for the equivalent of $5 and $7.50 in points instead of $10 and $15. (Although I usually get the points at a discount too, making the purchases lower still.)[/QUOTE]
Hey, where did my goalposts go? I could have sworn they were here a minute ago.

Also, "The number of PC gamers playing online is a tiny subset of what XBL could claim on the original Xbox"? Really?
 
Darksiders is severely underrated. It wasn't one of the best games of this generation by any means but it was definitely worth a playthrough. It was Zelda in a moment when no one else event wanted to broach the game design. Even now, no one has really managed to hit it in a way we can appreciate it.

Metro 2033 was one of my favorite games of this generation. I really hope they stick around because although they don't necessarily make the biggest of blockbusters, there is some definite stuff coming out of them that's worth looking into. Switching up air filters and scavenging for ammo was a blast.
 
The problem is, "definitely worth a playthrough" is the lowest compliment you could give to a game these days.

Darksiders is nothing.
 
[quote name='KingofOldSchool']Darksiders 2 would probably have to do Call of Duty sales to "save" them.

They'd be lucky to get Medal of Honor sales.[/QUOTE]

I don't think so. If they sell one million copies, they can make it to Christmas without dipping into their credit line with Wells Fargo. Also, with all the layoffs, the cost structure has gone down significantly and they depreciated the uDraw stuff 100 million last quarter so looking ahead should be much better in terms of earnings per share. I think they'll make it. In fact, I'm betting on it. There was a nasty rumor a couple months ago that said that THQ was cancelling all 2013 and 2014 games. The company came out and said it wasn't true but the damage to the stock price was done. That hurt the stock price a lot. Then there was the announcement that they were converting the Warhammer 40k MMO to a single player game and people actually SOLD on that (it dropped every day since the announcement), lowering the stock to it's current price. Whoever held onto their stock until now then sold because of the MMO to single player conversion must not know anything about the industry they were investing in. We obviously know that it's very difficult for an MMO to do well and Warhammer is something of a niche product. Now this nasty comment that THQ "won't make it six months" by the Take Two CEO the other day has gone viral and might push more people into selling. If that happens Monday and Tuesday then that will make the entry point for the stock much lower.

http://www.earningscast.com/THQI/20120202
 
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Retro-fitting an MMO to singleplayer sounds terrible; unless it's just going to be Space Marine 2.

I wonder how much Itakagi's new studio and Devil's Third game cost them, which looks even more niche than Ninja Gaiden.
 
[quote name='Necrozilla']Retro-fitting an MMO to singleplayer sounds terrible; unless it's just going to be Space Marine 2.

I wonder how much Itakagi's new studio and Devil's Third game cost them, which looks even more niche than Ninja Gaiden.[/QUOTE]

IMO it does NOT sound terrible since an MMO is doomed to failure at the expense of a LOT of money that THQ cannot afford. That said, folks that have seen the game seem to think it was for the best. Check out the Giant Bombcast.

Skip to 2 hours, 21 minutes, 56 seconds in (4/3/2012 podcast). You will have to let the podcast load before you can easily skip that far in.
http://www.giantbomb.com/podcast/
 
[quote name='Blaster man']IMO it does NOT sound terrible since an MMO is doomed to failure at the expense of a LOT of money that THQ cannot afford. That said, folks that have seen the game seem to think it was for the best. Check out the Giant Bombcast.

Skip to 2 hours, 21 minutes, 56 seconds in (4/3/2012 podcast). You will have to let the podcast load before you can easily skip that far in.
http://www.giantbomb.com/podcast/[/QUOTE]
I'm not saying I thought it was going to be great in its original form (personally hate any MMO). I'm talking gameplay wise, not financially. It's going to be a bigger mess unless it's Space Marine 2 in which they have hope. If not, they would probably be better off just cancelling it if promising games like Prey 2 gets canceled over this freak-of-nature ex-MMO Warhammer game.
 
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Sounds like they're on the ropes, I doubt Darksiders 2 will be enough to survive.

They'll probably be gone before the end of the year.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']...

Obsidian.

fuck.[/QUOTE]

Hopefully there are no delays but don't worry, they can't afford to delay the releases too far or they risk running out of cash and going under.
 
You know i have to also say darksiders was a really good action game.
Sort of sad it went as under the radar as it did because it had a great story, good puzzle solving and the action was really fun. it also had some actually good length to it which most action games dont last more than 10 hours. :)

i'd go as far to say this game and castlevania are better than the god of war franchise =p
 
[quote name='Kevfactor']i'd go as far to say this game and castlevania are better than the god of war franchise =p[/QUOTE]


Darksiders drags really badly for the last half of the game. Especially once you get to
the tower
. IMO, the God of War games are still far superior to Darksiders.
 
[quote name='Kevfactor']
i'd go as far to say this game and castlevania are better than the god of war franchise =p[/QUOTE]

That's a very small compliment.
 
I saw some developer interviews for Darksiders 2 and they seem genuinely excited about it. Evidently they are putting everything into it that they wanted in the first one. There are NPC's, hubtowns, etc. They go so far as to claim that there are 4 or 5 (don't remember the exact number) areas (don't remember the term used for an area) in the new game and that each area is as big as the ENTIRE first game. I was like, wtf? I never played the first but plan on doing so as soon as I can find it pretty cheap.
 
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