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Forums - Gaming Discussion - THQ takes heavy losses relying on the next fiscal year for there survival!

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Well we all know that THQ has been enduring financial difficulties for quite some time. They began shedding studios big time over the last fiscal year dropping any studio whose games did not give them the greatest amount of sales. Earlier this year THQ stated they were shifting from publishing several decent games to focusing on releasing just a few big AAA+ games. This shift meant THQ planned to release between 2-4 big games.

Well it would appear that THQ lost over 92-million dollars according to their most recent financial report. They indicated that they are focusing on increasing their THQ Montreal staff from 150-400 within the next short while banking on the high quality game development community found in Eastern Canada.

THQ's goal is to become a high end developer and they don't have much time to transform. THQ claims that it has three big games coming out within the next short while which it is betting its very existence on. WWE '12, Saints Row: The Third and UFC Undisputed are THQ's only hope. Some industry analysts suggest if those titles fail to be successful THQ will be forced to take drastic measures likely closing more studios liquidating assets and if they really fail to deliver in the next year they could face bankruptcy.

THQ is un the verge of becoming the next Midway or Acclaim. If these titles don't succeed it could be all over for THQ. If these titles do keep THQ alive another year do you think they can honestly turn the company around? It hasn't been profitable in ages and with it dropping so many resources can they actually deliver these 2-4 AAA+ games each year? Will those AAA+ games be enough to actually bring the company out of the danger zone? Or is THQ a lost cause? THQ hopes its Montreal studio becomes as legendary as UbiSoft Montreal, EA Montreal and challenges Eidos Montreal, can THQ create a world class studio capable of being in the same league as say UbiMontreal?



-JC7

"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer

 

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They should think about letting someone buy them out not Activision or EA, but Sony or Microsoft



Your argument would be heard much better if you post links to prove some of your statements 

 

edit: And voalition is much better than any of the studios you mentioned



TadpoleJackson said:

Your argument would be heard much better if you post links to prove some of your statements 

 

edit: And voalition is much better than any of the studios you mentioned


Yah I have been including sources as of late to back up stories. But when I reference multiple stories like in this case I could be using 6-7 sources. This is very time consuming and most users don't appretiate the work I put in when I do it this way. But I'll provide 3 key sources below.

THQ posts 92 million dollar loss

THQ to focus on a few AAA+ games over plenty of lisensed titles

THQ to expand THQ Montreal , while downsizing globally

As for Voalition, yah they are a superb studio and likely the best studio that THQ has. However THQ lacks many other high quality studios not to mention despite how good Voalition is at making games their games are not as highly acclaimed as say UbiSoft Montreal. Though I will admit EAMontreal has not produced that many titles that rival Voalition and Eidos Montreal only has one game under there belt however that one game many would argue would rival the best that Voalition has offered.

Personally I think 2012 is THQ's comeback year. Alongside those three titles already named they are launching their Udraw tablet for 360/PS3 I expect it to get a decent level of support though less then they saw on Wii.  THQ plans on being one of the WiiU's biggest third party supporters (Source) I expect WiiUdraw to launch within the launch window of WiiU alongside up to 5 or so THQ games. I'd put my money on THQ porting every major title they release next year to WiiU starting with Darksiders but could also have a beefed up version of SaintsRow:The Third. I am betting THQ will be counting on WiiU to help them pull out eying UbiSoft's position as Nintendo's biggest third party supporter.

Also if WiiU is as successful sales wise as PS3 I am betting THQ will make the WiiU their primary focus. Fact is if WiiU is truly as weak graphics wise then development on WiiU will be significantly cheaper then PS4/Nex-Box and THQ will support the platform with as many titles as they can launch as long as they bring in decent profits. Everyone remember how Atari and Majesco handled this generations launch they stayed away from making PS3 games till the cost of development became reasonable and the companies could afford to support them. I suspect that THQ will put a lot of its resources behind WiiU!



-JC7

"In God We Trust - In Games We Play " - Joel Reimer

 

THQ have some great games coming in the next year with Saints Row: The Third, Darksiders II and Metro: Last Light. Hopefully those games sell well especially Last Light and hopefully that will keep them going until Dawn of War 3 and InSane come out as they are sure to be interesting games.

40k Online is probably the reason for the losses it can't be a cheap game to make but as of 2013 it should help the long term future of the company. Oh and the flop of the last Red faction didn't help.



@TheVoxelman on twitter

Check out my hype threads: Cyberpunk, and The Witcher 3!

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I think THQ are really in trouble, they're in a pretty dire state and the fact is now a few more bombs and they're pretty much done for.

Danny Bilson has done a great job getting new IP and stuff for them though and their upcoming line up looks like it's filled with big sellers Saints Row, UFC, Darksiders should all cruise past 2m and I can see SR and UFC chasing 5m (shipped).

The problem is since they 'cut' everything else they're relying on every game being a big hit with no other releases to back it up. It felt like in the past few years UFC and uDraw (Which appears to have completely sunk) pretty much saved THQ from oblivion and SR:3rd might just be postponing the inevitable further.

They'll be okay for a bit but once they're relying on InSane, Devil's Row and their other new IP's to stay afloat... no chance.



Degausser said:
I think THQ are really in trouble, they're in a pretty dire state and the fact is now a few more bombs and they're pretty much done for.

Danny Bilson has done a great job getting new IP and stuff for them though and their upcoming line up looks like it's filled with big sellers Saints Row, UFC, Darksiders should all cruise past 2m and I can see SR and UFC chasing 5m (shipped).

The problem is since they 'cut' everything else they're relying on every game being a big hit with no other releases to back it up. It felt like in the past few years UFC and uDraw (Which appears to have completely sunk) pretty much saved THQ from oblivion and SR:3rd might just be postponing the inevitable further.

They'll be okay for a bit but once they're relying on InSane, Devil's Row and their other new IP's to stay afloat... no chance.


In the long term they are counting on Warhammer 40k MMO and a seccond swing at the online shooter market with Homefront 2 to keep them afloat not new IPs. With the new IPs they are trying to establish brands that they don't have to pay royalties on, currently all their big franchises are licenced exept for Saint's Row, since they let Red Faction die. If Darksiders and Homefornt can be turned into reliable franchises they will be much better off than they are now.



@TheVoxelman on twitter

Check out my hype threads: Cyberpunk, and The Witcher 3!

zarx said:
Degausser said:
I think THQ are really in trouble, they're in a pretty dire state and the fact is now a few more bombs and they're pretty much done for.

Danny Bilson has done a great job getting new IP and stuff for them though and their upcoming line up looks like it's filled with big sellers Saints Row, UFC, Darksiders should all cruise past 2m and I can see SR and UFC chasing 5m (shipped).

The problem is since they 'cut' everything else they're relying on every game being a big hit with no other releases to back it up. It felt like in the past few years UFC and uDraw (Which appears to have completely sunk) pretty much saved THQ from oblivion and SR:3rd might just be postponing the inevitable further.

They'll be okay for a bit but once they're relying on InSane, Devil's Row and their other new IP's to stay afloat... no chance.


In the long term they are counting on Warhammer 40k MMO and a seccond swing at the online shooter market with Homefront 2 to keep them afloat not new IPs. With the new IPs they are trying to establish brands that they don't have to pay royalties on, currently all their big franchises are licenced exept for Saint's Row, since they let Red Faction die. If Darksiders and Homefornt can be turned into reliable franchises they will be much better off than they are now.

  Spells bad for a company when they're relying on an MMO to turn things around. Homefront 2 is scheduled for like 2014 too isn't it? Can't see that helping them for a while...

 And yeah I get they're trying to establish their own brands, that's pretty much EA's focus for the past 4 or 5 years and they bled pretty bad from it. EA are a big enough giant to cope with that though, I don't think THQ are. Typically with new IP's the first game is lucky and considered successful to break even, most companies would take a small loss in all honesty, by the time stuff like Devil's Third and InSane is potentially profitable it'll be too late.



im sorry but thq has ruined the wwe games with lack off inovation and the same stuff every year with outdated models and entrances and especially moves, i really don't want the wwe licence with them! they have taken a game which sells very well to a game which struggles to sell 1m each on ps3 and xbox 360! check the records, smackdown vs raw 2008 did better then 2011 that's a joke. so i don't care much and they said saints row is a game that fans actually want digging into Grand theft auto, so i hope they get what they deserved



Degausser said:

  Spells bad for a company when they're relying on an MMO to turn things around. Homefront 2 is scheduled for like 2014 too isn't it? Can't see that helping them for a while...

 And yeah I get they're trying to establish their own brands, that's pretty much EA's focus for the past 4 or 5 years and they bled pretty bad from it. EA are a big enough giant to cope with that though, I don't think THQ are. Typically with new IP's the first game is lucky and considered successful to break even, most companies would take a small loss in all honesty, by the time stuff like Devil's Third and InSane is potentially profitable it'll be too late.


40k is risky but it has a dedicted fanbase so it should do decently and supply the company with a steady income stream. 

Until then and later Homefornt 2 they do have a pretty strong lineup with Saint's Row the third (aparently has 4x the preorders of 2) and WWE 10 to help them during the holidays, then they have UFC Undisputed 3 early next year, followed by Metro: Last Light (which should be more profitable than the first game as it's building off the same tech and has a PS3 SKU), then Darksiders 2 and also maybe Dawn Of War 3 if it doesn't slip to next year. They also have the Wii U late 2012 which they will launch Metro: Last Light and Darksiders 2 on.

Then for 2013 they have InSane and Devil's third, the 40k MMO and whatever the Montreal studio is working on.

There will also be some smaller games to round out the lineup, barring a massive bomb they should be in a much stronger position, they just have to get through they have cut costs a lot by cutting studios so they should be more profitable in the future. 

Of couse they are in a risky position and they can't afford 2 big games to bomb so it's not all good and they are currently in a bad position taking losses while they restructure, they could try looking to sell out to a bigger company like EA but in this econnomy I am not sure there is anyone doing well enough to buy them.



@TheVoxelman on twitter

Check out my hype threads: Cyberpunk, and The Witcher 3!