Sold! Now, who owns which THQ assets?

THQ has been torn to shreds and distributed all over the gaming sphere as its biggest assets were snapped up at action.

Ubisoft picked up a license plus two IPs and a studio, while Sega, Zenimax and Deep Sliver were all major players. Meanwhile, Crytek threw in some loose change for Homefront.

Here are the new owners of THQ's franchises.

Saints Row and Volition (studio)
Bought by Koch Media (Deep Silver) for US $22.3 million. Ubisoft were second, offering just $5.4 million.

South Park license
Bought by Ubisoft for US $3.3 million.

Company of Heroes and Relic (studio)
Bought by SEGA for US $26.6 million. Zenimax Media (Bethesda) was a close runner-up at $26.3 million.

Metro
Bought by Koch Media (Deep Silver) for US $5,877,551. Ubisoft was trailing them again, this time short by about $700,000.

THQ Montreal (studio), including 1666 and Underdog IPs
Bought by Ubisoft for US $2.5 million.

Evolve (new IP)
Bought by Take-Two Interactive (parent of 2K and Rockstar) for US $10.9 million

Homefront
Bought by Crytek for US $544,218.

Unsold and in limbo

Darksiders
Red Faction
Vigil Games (studio)
DeBlob
MX vs ATV
Destroy All Humans
uDraw
Nexuiz
Titan Quest
Frontlines
WWE (license, not IP, making it complicated) - IGN reports that Take-Two (2K) is likely to acquire the licence.
Warhammer 40K (license, not IP, making it complicated)

By Ben Salter

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M@ndyz K:207049 24/01/2013

I prefer ubisoft then EA. so I'm happy with this

chucky110 K:28499 24/01/2013

uDraw deserves to fail anyway, it was a waste of time. So we won't be seeing anymore THQ logos on games then.

Kayel K:19896 24/01/2013

I don't know why, but I feel so sad for THQ. :(

All this listing is very interesting though. I never heard of Evolve, but it seems like Take Two (Rockstar and 2k) is very well interested in it.

Gryllis K:282783 24/01/2013

Of the unsold, it's really only Darksiders that's surprising.

rancid13 K:638 24/01/2013

hahahahahaha uDraw!! hilarious that it's even on the list! probably the reason THQ died

Tsunamo K:73629 24/01/2013

Sad that Virgil games is now no more.

MrMoo K:5216 24/01/2013

IGN are reporting that the WWE license has been sold to Take Two (2K & Rockstar Games' parent company

Edit: included link to IGN

au.ign.com/...

Marge K:24455 24/01/2013

I can muster about 20 dollars to buy De Blob ... might be enough [MOG]

Gryllis K:282783 24/01/2013

Marge said: I can muster about 20 dollars to buy De Blob ... might be enough

I'll chuck in $1.75

Kayel K:19896 24/01/2013

Hmmm.. I'm not sure about Deep Silver owning the rights to Saints Row IP, since I have not played a lot of their games (are they any good?). I would have preferred Ubisoft bought the rights to the Saints Row franchise.

Heller K:186104 24/01/2013

Shattered that Vigil didn't sell. The lead combat designer posted this farewell note, where he talks about their latest project. It's really sad www.destructoid.com/...

JJake K:4749 24/01/2013

Very glad South Park is in Ubisoft's hands.

MyFragian K:14418 24/01/2013

I'm quite happy that Relic and the company of heroes franchise was saved :D

Aeschylus K:4739 24/01/2013

WHAT ABOUT WARHAMMER!!!

Pact K:21095 24/01/2013

**** YOU SEGA, YOU **** COH UP I WILL **** YOU UP!

Aeschylus said: WHAT ABOUT WARHAMMER!!!

That IP is owned by Games Workshop.

Ezpay K:14822 24/01/2013

Volition make the Red Faction games, therefore shouldn't it be now now owned by Koch?

Kenni K:339878 24/01/2013

I thought they axed Red Faction last year.

Tj866 K:176 24/01/2013

M@ndyz said: I prefer ubisoft then EA. so I'm happy with this

you and me both, i was hoping Ubisoft woul get it, kinda hoped they would get saints row as well

Tj866 K:176 24/01/2013

PS3K said: Hmmm.. I'm not sure about Deep Silver owning the rights to Saints Row IP, since I have not played a lot of their games (are they any good?). I would have preferred Ubisoft bought the rights to the Saints Row franchise.

en.wikipedia.org/... I would have liked Ubisoft aswell but, its not all bad

JJake K:4749 24/01/2013

Ezpay said: Volition make the Red Faction games, therefore shouldn't it be now now owned by Koch?

If they don't own the rights to the game they can't touch it.

Tano K:298527 24/01/2013

Marge said: I can muster about 20 dollars to buy De Blob ... might be enough

I'll swap it to you for a dimsim?

kangle4 K:11275 24/01/2013

2K getting WWE could be cool with a proper be a pro mode.

Tano K:298527 24/01/2013

kangle4 said: 2K getting WWE could be cool with a proper be a pro mode.

They could really reinvigorate it. The WWE games are generally pretty good though.

SlappyWag K:2274 24/01/2013

Beta said:
kangle4 said: 2K getting WWE could be cool with a proper be a pro mode.

They could really reinvigorate it. The WWE games are generally pretty good though.

I liked one of the first ones on PS2, the rest are the same. They just update the year on the cover :P
I skipped heaps and played the 2012 version. Sucked major ass IMO =D

kangle4 K:11275 24/01/2013

SlappyWag said:
Beta said:
kangle4 said: 2K getting WWE could be cool with a proper be a pro mode.

They could really reinvigorate it. The WWE games are generally pretty good though.

I liked one of the first ones on PS2, the rest are the same. They just update the year on the cover
I skipped heaps and played the 2012 version. Sucked major ass IMO

I agree, the best experience I had with career mode was with Smackdown 2.

SlappyWag K:2274 24/01/2013

kangle4 said:
SlappyWag said:
Beta said:
kangle4 said: 2K getting WWE could be cool with a proper be a pro mode.

They could really reinvigorate it. The WWE games are generally pretty good though.

I liked one of the first ones on PS2, the rest are the same. They just update the year on the cover
I skipped heaps and played the 2012 version. Sucked major ass IMO

I agree, the best experience I had with career mode was with Smackdown 2.

Man I loved that game. Best controls and playability I thought.

Kerosanak K:70391 24/01/2013

Someone better buy Darksiders and finish the damn series or I swear to God [Shifty]

MX_Xizz0R K:3123 24/01/2013

Marge said: I can muster about 20 dollars to buy De Blob ... might be enough

If you buy DeBlob I'll buy destroy all humans.

punk K:10334 24/01/2013

Ezpay said: Volition make the Red Faction games, therefore shouldn't it be now now owned by Koch?

That's what I was thinking. Surely this will move on with them. I love red faction!!!!!!

I'm surprised about darksiders. I'm pretty sure that was popular...

Warhammer 40k will bounce back since it was licensed but whether it'll continue in the same way with games like dawn of war - who knows.... Maybe they'll approach sega and get them to get relics to do another version. Sega could pull it off as I don't mind them as a publisher since relic entertainment isn't being broken up (yet)

The_Boss K:1922 25/01/2013

I enjoyed Frontlines on XB360 back in da dayz I like to see a sequel or reboot.

Marge K:24455 25/01/2013

MX_Xizz0R said:
Marge said: I can muster about 20 dollars to buy De Blob ... might be enough

If you buy DeBlob I'll buy destroy all humans.

We will destroy both franchises ... so best not to. Hopefully someone snaps them up or THQ utilises them in their relaunch.

-PAYZEE- K:16970 25/01/2013

...This will be a big change for video games...

-PAYZEE- K:16970 25/01/2013

...how would you actually go about buying unsold assets like the ones above one might wonder...

punk K:10334 25/01/2013

Pact said: **** YOU SEGA, YOU **** COH UP I WILL **** YOU UP!

Aeschylus said: WHAT ABOUT WARHAMMER!!!

That IP is owned by Games Workshop.

Surely its not that bad with the devs moving over (relic entertainment)
Its better than sitting around hoping THQ get back on their feet all while Relic Devs move on.. Sega will be the publisher and will have to foot the bill (nothing different from what THQ did). Hopefully Sega keeps the standard up and has the marketing behind it when they do go ahead with another in the series (more likely now that its been sold off).

It seems platinum games have expressed interest with Darksiders, with producer Atsushi Inaba announcing it on twitter. In the meantime vigil employees are out of a job and remains to be seen if platinum games will pick up many of the devs if they go ahead with it... I've always liked Joe Madureira so its a shame to see vigil games go like this unless a publisher picks them up.

All in all, Platinum Games would probably do a decent job on Darksiders if they were to take over...

Gryllis K:282783 25/01/2013

Considering their current Nintendo links, Platinum Games to pick up Darksiders for cheap and make DS3 a Wii U exclusive?

Would it be a more appealing franchise if it was exclusive? At least for one game.

punk K:10334 25/01/2013

Ben said: Considering their current Nintendo links, Platinum Games to pick up Darksiders for cheap and make DS3 a Wii U exclusive?
Would it be a more appealing franchise if it was exclusive? At least for one game.

It would be nice if Bayonetta 2 was out so we could gauge the reception, afaik there isn't even a scheduled release date so I wouldn't be expecting a new darksiders games from them anytime soon if they were to buy the IP unless they recruit vigil games staff.
Considering Darksiders multi-platform release, it would certainly piss off a few fans since they would certainly like to see the story arc finish since vigil announced there would be at least a 4-part series (playing each horsemen)
If it was moved in this direction I could certainly see Nintendo giving Platinum games a helping hand by publishing it or strike a deal for a timed release but what publisher would want to do that? They wouldn't go capcom or sega anytime soon... ubisoft? but then Ubisoft would have forked money for it already so that pretty much leaves Konami who have given platinum games the reigns on metal gear rising and Konami have been known to go exclusive on titles.

Regarding the wii U, I wonder if this would give Platinum games the chance to re-release darksiders 1 and 2 on the wii u platform? It would certainly give darksiders a fair chance as an exclusive if they continue the storyline.

If it could be had on the cheap it could very well be a possibility since it would lower the risks and give Nintendo a decent IP to push their hardware.

Jakerz K:1176 25/01/2013

Wow, Ubisoft come off as a bunch of cheap asses. I thought they had money to splurge?

Pact K:21095 25/01/2013

punk said:

I really hope so, after seeing the shit that SEGA Japan pulls I just hope Relic doesn't get ripped apart after COH2.

Euronomys1 K:10 25/01/2013

Never would have guessed darksiders to be in limbo. :(

CptAwesome K:1465 25/01/2013

SlappyWag said:
kangle4 said:
SlappyWag said:
Beta said:
kangle4 said: 2K getting WWE could be cool with a proper be a pro mode.

They could really reinvigorate it. The WWE games are generally pretty good though.

I liked one of the first ones on PS2, the rest are the same. They just update the year on the cover
I skipped heaps and played the 2012 version. Sucked major ass IMO

I agree, the best experience I had with career mode was with Smackdown 2.

Man I loved that game. Best controls and playability I thought.

personally my favourite wwF game of all time was wwf no mercy on n64... dont get me wrong the smackdown games were awesome and had awesome careers too, but i loved the freedom of no mercy, the double team moves, the branching career paths for each championship, etc.

i think no mercy and the old smackdown games were the best wrestling games ever created... ahh nostalgia :'(

MX_Xizz0R K:3123 27/01/2013

Marge said:
MX_Xizz0R said:
Marge said: I can muster about 20 dollars to buy De Blob ... might be enough

If you buy DeBlob I'll buy destroy all humans.

We will destroy both franchises ... so best not to. Hopefully someone snaps them up or THQ utilises them in their relaunch.

Oh please, like it would be hard to write a deBLOB game, im going to miss destroy all humans the most :'@

Now I feel a bit sad every time I boot up DOW and DOW2

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Sold! Now, who owns which THQ assets?

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