Skip to main content

I’ll buy that for a dollar: THQ’s assets divided, auctioned to highest bidder

THQ sold
Image used with permission by copyright holder

At this point,  we’ve been detailing the ongoing fiscal collapse of once-mighty games publisher THQ for so long that we’re rapidly running out of novel things to say. The last time we covered the situation a bankruptcy Judge had denied the company’s stated plan to bounce back from its financial problems, saying that the scheme seemed designed to take advantage of those who might otherwise opt to place a bid on the beleaguered publisher’s assets. That auction concluded this morning, and while it brings sad news for THQ we’re just happy this whole saga is finally nearing its end.

As you may recall, the original idea proposed by THQ and its lawyers was that the company’s holdings would be sold to a group called Clearlake Capital. According to the plan, Clearlake would then hold these assets until  THQ had built itself back up enough within the gaming industry to buy all of its studios and intellectual property rights back from Clearlake. This would have been a choice situation for THQ, as it wouldn’t really lose any of its assets and could avoid laying off  employees. Unfortunately, that deal seemed a bit too sweet to Judge Mary Walrath, who ordered that THQ be divided into small pieces and sold to whichever individual or company ponies up the most cash. Under Judge Walrath’s orders, Clearlake was still eligible to bid on THQ’s assets but it would have to compete openly with the general public.

Unfortunately for THQ’s plan, after an auction process that ran for 22 hours, it was decided that the company could raise much more money by selling its assets individually. THQ CEO Brian Farrel and president Jason Rubin wrote a letter to their employees explaining the situation, and offering a surprisingly candid list of who now owns THQ’s erstwhile assets. Venturebeat published a copy of this missive and you can read the full text there, but the most crucial points are as follows:

While much will be written, here are the facts of the bids and auction that occurred today:

  • Yesterday morning, we received a competing bid for the operating business, along with Clearlake’s offer, and numerous offers for separate assets.
  • During an auction process that lasted over 22 hours, the final conclusion was that the separate-asset bids would net more than a single buyer for the majority of the company.
  • Shortly, we will, present the results to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which must concur with our assessment.
  • 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

We expect these sales to close this week.

Rubin and Farrel then go on to thank their employees for their dedication and hard work. They expect the new owners of THQ’s studios to retain the majority of their employees, though realistically neither Rubin nor Farrel have any true knowledge or control over what these companies plan to do with THQ’s former holdings. Koch Media probably won’t turn Volition’s development studio into a 4,000 square foot executive sauna, but now that it owns the developer there isn’t much to stop the firm’s exuectives from languidly relaxing in a steam-filled, muggy room that once spawned Saints Row The Third.

Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
How to buy and customize ships in Sea of Thieves
The name King of Red Lions floats above a red, customized ship in Sea of Thieves.

The newest season of Sea of Thieves is here to take you back to your favorite swashbuckling adventure world. And whether that means you're checking out the series for the first time or you're having trouble remembering everything from the last time you played, you're probably aware that you'll need a ship to find a transport your booty around. Here's how to get a ship in Sea of Thieves as well as customize it to your liking.

Read more
Quick! This PS5 bundle just got an unprecedented price cut
The Playstation 5 system standing upright.

We didn't expect the PlayStation 5 Slim, the updated version of Sony's video game console, to go on sale this soon, but you can already get the PlayStation 5 Slim Marvel's Spider-Man 2 bundle from Amazon with a 20% discount. From its original price of $559, you'll only have to pay $449, which is a fantastic price for this gaming machine. PS5 deals always attract a lot of attention, so we expect this offer to get sold out quickly. If you want to take advantage of it, you're going to have to hurry in completing your purchase.

Why you should buy the PlayStation 5 Slim Marvel's Spider-Man 2 bundle
The PlayStation 5 Slim is more than just a slimmed-down version of the original PlayStation 5 -- though the difference is noticeable with 18% less weight and 30% less volume for the disc version. There's no performance upgrade between the PS5 Slim and PS5, and you'll be able to play all of the PlayStation 5 games on either model, but the PS5 Slim comes with a 1TB of storage with around 842GB usable, compared to 825GB with 667GB usable in the original PS5. That's nearly 200GB of extra space for your installed games, save data, and screenshots.

Read more
How to change your Steam username
Steam library.

Unless you've got an absolute premium username or have too many linked accounts to name, there's no reason to stick with the same username forever. Unlike some services that offer limited username changes or charge to change your tag, Steam allows users to adjust their usernames at any time.

You don't have to keep that awful username you picked on some random Tuesday before hopping into a game. Here's how you can make a change.

Read more