THQ Dissolved, Studios and Games Sold Off One-by-One

We’ve seen it coming, for weeks we’ve seen it coming. After filing for bankruptcy protection and rumors of anxious buyers stepping up to the plate bubbled to the surface, former game publishing giant THQ is officially no more. Its assets, including games and studios, are being sold off individually to interested publishers across the industry. Many of these were picked up for a fraction of their worth, some for even less. Some companies were even left out to dry in the mess of it all, with many now unemployed.

For clarity’s sake, let’s break it all down.

What games/companies went where?

In a letter to THQ employees, THQ bosses Brian Farrell and Jason Rubin detailed the proposed sales of many of the company’s assets. Pending an approval with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, this is where THQ’s major game development studios (and their respective games) will fall under:

• Sega agreed to purchase Relic Entertainment (Company of Heroes)
• Koch Media agreed to purchase Volition (Saints Row) and Metro
• Crytek agreed to purchase Homefront
• Take 2 agreed purchase Evolve
• Ubisoft agreed to purchase THQ Montreal and South Park: The Stick of Truth

Were any games/companies not picked up?

Vigil Games, the studio behind the Darksiders franchise, is not on this list because it, along with other THQ assets like its publishing business, is not currently involved in any sales agreements with interested publishers. As of now, its developers are out of work. This is confirmed by a handful of designers speaking out on Twitter.

Reports are also trickling in that claim game franchises de Blob and Destroy All Humans are also not currently up for any sale agreements, and they remain a piece of THQ’s bankruptcy case. The letter does not confirm the sales of these titles, nor has anyone from THQ or an interested publisher, so it’s reasonable to assume these reports are well-founded.

How much were these games/companies bought for?

A series of tweets from Distressed Debt Investing has posted results of the THQ auction, citing that the following transactions went down:

THQ auction results: 26M for Relic (Sega), 2.5M for Montreal (Ubisoft), 11M for Evolve (Take-Two), 22.3M for Volition (Koch Media)…

— Hunter (@DDInvesting) January 23, 2013

500k Homeland (Crytek), 5.8M for Metro (Koch Media), South Park for 3.2M (Ubisoft)

— Hunter (@DDInvesting) January 23, 2013

Joystiq has reportedly obtained the sales figures resulting from the sale of THQ’s intellectual properties, licenses and studios. Here are the winning bids for each asset, followed by the runner-up bid:

Relic and Company of Heroes
Winning bid: $26.6 million – Sega Corporation
Backup bidder: $26.3 million – Zenimax Media

THQ Montreal, with 1666 and Underdog
Winning bid: $2.5 million – Ubisoft
Backup bidder: N/A

Evolve aka Metamorphosis
Winning bid: $10.894 million – Take-Two Interactive
Backup bidder: $250,000 Turtle Rock Studios, Inc.

Volition and Saints Row
Winning bid: $22.3 million – Koch Media GmbH (Deep Silver)
Backup bidder: $5.4 million – Ubisoft

Homefront
Winning bid: $544,218 – Crytek GmbH
Backup bidder: N/A

Metro, which includes 2033 and 2034
Winning bid: $5,877,551 – Koch Media GmbH (Deep Silver)
Backup bidder: $5.175 million – Ubisoft

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Winning bid: $3,265,306 – Ubisoft
Backup bidder: N/A

We’ll come back with more numbers when we receive them.

Were there any serious layoffs?

Yes. As with most layoff occurrences these days, many are popping up via social networks like Twitter, with former THQ employees notifying their followers of their now-unemployment status. Game Informer has done a solid job rounding up the initial bursts of alerts, which you can check out in full here.

Addressed fully in THQ’s executive letter to its employees below this post, the company was very brief in its alerting of now-unemployed workers. Here’s an excerpt:

“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 contactingthese 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.”

“For those THQ employees who are part of entities that are not included in the sale, we
are confident that the talent you have displayed as part of THQ will be recognized as you
take the next steps in your career.”

You can use the #THQ hashtag on Twitter to follow updates from ex-employees as well as others helping them search for new industry positions. Since there’s no solid number for us to give you right now, we’ll stick to our guns with the hashtag and deliver a solid layoff number when/if we get one.

What did the THQ executives have to say?

Brian Farrell, Chief Executive Officer, and Jason Rubin, President, sent out a kind but straightforward letter to their employees, which was passed along to the media shortly afterward to help shed light on THQ’s crumbling. Here it is, in its entirety, for context and clarity:

To All THQ Employees:

We now have the answers we’ve been seeking through our financial restructuring and
Chapter 11 case. While much will be written, here are the facts of the bids and auction
that occurred t:

• 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.

Some assets, including our publishing businesses and Vigil, along with some other
intellectual properties are not included in the sale agreements. They will remain part of
the Chapter 11 case. We will make every effort to find appropriate buyers, if possible.

What this means for employees

We expect that most employees of the entities included in the sale will be offered
employment by the new owners. 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. Please note that the terms of your new
employment, including pay and benefits, may be different from the current terms of
your employment with THQ.

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.

We know you will have many questions about this news. We’ll be meeting tomorrow
when we return to talk through this announcement and to answer any questions you
have. You will receive a benefits fact sheet and FAQs with answers to some questions
that may be on your mind. Please review these materials closely.

A personal note

The work that you all have done as part of the THQ family is imaginative, creative,
artistic and highly valued by our loyal gamers. We are proud of what we have
accomplished despite today’s outcome.

It has been our privilege to work alongside the entire THQ team. While the company
will cease to exist, we are heartened that the majority of our studios and games will
continue under new ownership. We were hoping that the entire company would remain
intact, but we expect to hear good news from each of the separate entities that will be
operating as part of new organizations.

For those THQ employees who are part of entities that are not included in the sale, we
are confident that the talent you have displayed as part of THQ will be recognized as you
take the next steps in your career.

Thank you all for your dedication and for sharing your talent with the THQ team. We
wish you the best of luck and hope you will keep in touch.

Sincerely,

Brian Farrell
Chief Executive Officer

Jason Rubin
President

For now, this is what we know of THQ and its properties. We’ll update this article more when we learn more, but know that our thoughts go out to those affected by the layoffs.

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