THQ

THQ
The 2000 logo of THQ Inc.
Formerly	Toy Headquarters
Type	Public
Traded as	THQI (1991–2012) OTC Pink: THQIQ (2012–2013)
Industry	Video game industry and Interactive entertainment
Fate	Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Successor	THQ Nordic
Founded	1989 (as Trinity Acquisition Corporation) New York, U.S.
Defunct	January 23rd, 2013
Headquarters	Agoura Hills, California (U.S.)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Brian J. Farrell (Chairman, CEO) Jason Rubin (President)
Owner	THQ Nordic AB
Parent	THQ Nordic (2013-present)
Revenue	loss $665 million (2011)
Net income	Template:Loss $136 million (2011)
Website	THQ website

THQ Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher. Founded in 1989, the company developed products for home video game consoles and handhelds, personal computers and mobile devices. Its name derived from "Toy Headquarters" during its time as a toy manufacturer in the early 1990s. THQ had offices in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The company published both internally created and externally licensed content in its product portfolio. THQ's internally created games included Darksiders, De Blob, Destroy All Humans!, MX vs. ATV, Red Faction and Saints Row series among others. The company also held exclusive, long-term licensing agreements with leading sports and entertainment content creators such as Disney, DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon, Pixar and WWE.

After years of financial struggles, stock value drop, and debt, THQ declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2012 and began liquidation of its assets the following month, with several properties either being acquired or auctioned to other developers. In addition, most of the remaining staff were laid off.

In 2014, the THQ trademark was acquired by Nordic Games, which had acquired some of THQ's properties in the auction. The company renamed itself THQ Nordic in August 2016.

History

Trinity Acquisition Corporation and founding (1989–1999)

THQ's logo from 1994 to 2000

In 1989, Trinity Acquisition Corporation was founded in New York as a shell corporation to raise money for a future venture in an unspecified field of activity. One year later in April 1990, former LJN co-founder Jack Friedman established the toy company, THQ, Inc., in Calabasas, California with a personal investment of $1 million. "THQ" was an abbreviation for Toy Headquarters. THQ acquired Brøderbund's video game division in September 1990 and released its first video game, Peter Pan and the Pirates, in January 1991. Though always formally called THQ, the company typically traded as T•HQ in video games' box arts and instruction manuals. In 1991, THQ agreed to be acquired by Trinity Acquisition Corp. in a stock swap valued at about $33 million with THQ's shareholders owning 51.7% of the new entity. THQ's name was retained for the new company and Friedman was named as its president. THQ then acquired video game developer Black Pearl Software of Chicago in 1993.

THQ withdrew completely from the toy business in 1994 to focus solely on video game production. In addition, the company dropped the • from its label. Jack Friedman then left the company in 1995 to co-found the toy manufacturer Jakks Pacific. Brian Farrell became CEO of THQ in 1995. In 1997, THQ was reincorporated as a Delaware Corporation, and acquired San Diego video game developer Pacific Coast Power & Light.

Company growth and acquisitions (2000–2009)

THQ's logo from 2000 to 2011

In February 2000, THQ faced a class action lawsuit over federal securities laws violation due to nondisclosure of material information. In September of the same year, the company expanded its internal product development capabilities with the acquisition of Volition located in Champaign, Illinois. Since then, THQ's internal studio system grew to eleven studios across the globe with distinct capabilities across all viable gaming platforms. Some of these studios, such as Relic Entertainment, Vigil Games, Blue Tongue Entertainment, Juice Games, Kaos Studios and Volition, worked on games for next generation consoles as well as PCs. THQ went on to acquire Vigil Games in 2006. On May 10, 2007, THQ reported its highest annual sales figures and net profits ever for the fiscal year which ended on March 31. THQ's revenues reached over $1 billion. In March 2008, THQ announced the development of the world's first ever cheerleading game using the Wii Balance Board. Not long after, on November 3, 2008, the company closed five of its internal studios: Paradigm Entertainment, Mass Media Inc., Helixe, Locomotive Games, and Sandblast Games. In 2009, huge declines in sales prompted THQ to form a strategic plan to cut $220 million in annual costs by 2010 and invest in "fewer, better bets." Previously in 2007, THQ had a $68-million profit and $1 billion in revenue, which put it within range of their rival Activision. Many of its big-budget games sold poorly, despite having favorable reviews, as the recession hit. Its hold on kids' games based on Nickelodeon TV shows and Pixar movies slipped as kids turned to free online games playable on the Internet. With shares down 86% from the previous year and a market value of only $173 million, THQ had the possibility of being acquired by other companies. In March 2009, THQ spun off Heavy Iron Studios and Incinerator Studios as independent companies, and announced it was looking to sell Big Huge Games. Two months later in May 2009, THQ agreed to sell Big Huge Games to 38 Studios. In August 2009, THQ acquired Midway Studios San Diego for $200,000. The sale of the studio included all assets, except for the TNA Impact! video game.

Reorganization, financial struggles (2010–2012)

The company's final logo, which ran from 2011 to 2013 before defunction

In February 2010, THQ announced that Juice Games and Rainbow Studios would be part of a reshuffle, and would now bear the title THQ Digital Warrington and THQ Digital Phoenix, respectively. It is said that 60 members of staff face redundancies between THQ's US Rainbow studio and the UK Juice Game's studio. In August 2010, THQ unveiled the uDraw GameTablet, a $70 accessory for Nintendo's Wii console that lets gamers draw and play on their television screens. The white, 9-by-7-inch peripheral houses a Wii Remote on the left, with a doodle pad and tethered stylus on the right. THQ said more software for the uDraw would launch every couple of months. In January 2011, THQ sold off its Wireless division to a Swedish mobile company called 24MAS. On January 12, 2011, THQ unveiled its new logo. In March 2011, THQ, after its game Homefront was released, suffered a 26% stock drop. The large drop was speculated to be a result of Homefront's poor reception. On June 13, 2011, THQ announced the closure of Kaos Studios (the developer of Homefront) and THQ Digital Warrington (formerly Juice Games). On July 27, 2011, THQ announced it was dropping the long running Red Faction franchise. This was believed to be due to the poor reception over the latest game in the franchise, Red Faction: Armageddon. In the same year on August 9, 2011, THQ announced it would shift its development focus away from licensed kids and movie-based titles by closing down THQ Studio Australia and Blue Tongue in order to focus on "high-quality owned IP." The company also closed down THQ Digital Phoenix (formerly Rainbow Studios), thus dropping the MX vs. ATV franchise. In November 2011, a uDraw for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was released. However, it was a commercial failure, and is considered one of the main causes of the financial woes that broke up the company. In January 2012, THQ announced that it was exiting the licensed kids game business to focus on adult core gaming, but would continue to sell previously released titles. In February 2012, THQ also discontinued the uDraw GameTablet for the same reason. In May 2012, THQ reported a net loss of $239.9 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012. The loss was $100 million more than the previous fiscal year's loss of $136.1 million. THQ filed a notice with the SEC on May 25 for a June 29 stockholder's meeting, where THQ asked stockholders to approve a reverse split of the company's common stock. On June 4, 2012, THQ announced a deal to turn over their license for UFC games to Electronic Arts. In July 2012, THQ reported that its stockholders had approved the 1-for-10 reverse share split of its common stock to avert a delisting from the NASDAQ.

Bankruptcy and liquidation, THQ Nordic (2012–2013)

On November 13, 2012, THQ reported that they had defaulted on a $50 million loan from Wells Fargo and were on the verge of bankruptcy. With its stock price plummeting from early November values bordering on $3 down to $1.16 and with long-term liabilities of $250 million, THQ was forced to delay the release dates of its flagship titles Company of Heroes 2 and Metro: Last Light to March 2013. On November 29, 2012, THQ partnered with Humble Bundle to launch the Humble THQ Bundle in an effort to raise more money. By December 12, 2012, THQ sold nearly 800,000 bundles, raising around $5 million; THQ President Jason Rubin also made a purchase, spending $11,050 on the bundle. On December 19, 2012, just days after the Humble THQ bundle ended, THQ filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy with the intention of selling THQ and all of its assets to Clearlake Capital Group with Centerview Partners handling the sale. Skip Paul, a former colleague of Jason Rubin, helped orchestrate the proposed stalking horse bid from Clearlake Capital Group.

However, the bid was ultimately denied by Judge Mary F. Walrath and creditors instead approved an individual auction of THQ's properties, which went ahead on January 22, 2013. At the auction, the Homefront franchise was acquired by Crytek (and was later acquired by Koch Media), Relic Entertainment and the video game rights to the Warhammer 40,000 series were sold to Sega, and the publishing rights to Turtle Rock Studios' Evolve and the WWE series were acquired by Take-Two Interactive. Ubisoft acquired THQ Montreal and the publishing rights to South Park: The Stick of Truth while Volition and the publishing rights to the Metro franchise were acquired by Koch Media. Vigil Games and THQ's publishing unit were still included in the Chapter 11 case, although all employees related to these entities were laid off. In a posting on Twitter on January 23, PlatinumGames' producer Atsushi Inaba expressed interest in acquiring the Darksiders franchise from THQ.

On February 26, THQ announced that it would sell off its remaining properties – the Darksiders, Homeworld, Red Faction, and Destroy All Humans! franchises, as well as its licensed and original properties – in a court-approved auction which would be held from April 1 to 15, with the process completed by May. Around the same time, THQ shut down the servers to the 2012 remake of Nexuiz, which was developed by IllFonic.

All of THQ's remaining franchises, including the remainder of its original IPs (aside from Homeworld, which was acquired by Gearbox Software, and Drawn to Life, acquired by 505 Games) and licensed software, were auctioned to Nordic Games in April 2013. The Nickelodeon game license was acquired by Activision. This would later expire, and Nordic would acquire the Nickelodeon license in March 2018. [1]

Creditors initially said the proposed sale of THQ in bankruptcy court benefited current THQ management, including Rubin. Early creditor objections and court documents criticized THQ management. Presiding Judge Walwrath called these criticisms a "conspiracy theory" on record. Creditors ultimately released THQ management, including Rubin, of any malfeasance in the company's official plan of liquidation.

The liquidation of THQ also had an effect on other studios; British developer Blitz Games Studios shut down in September 2013, citing financial difficulties. The company's CEO Philip Oliver said that the demise of THQ, who was a major client for the studio, was one of the major contributing factors to the closure.

On June 12, 2014, Nordic Games announced that it had acquired the THQ trademark, allowing the studio to publish games under the THQ name. In August 2016, the company was renamed THQ Nordic in an effort to better associate itself with the historic brand.

THQ subsidiaries

Template:Multiple issues

Dissolved

Name	Location and/or Purpose	Outcome	Ref.
Outrage Games (formerly Outrage Entertainment)	Acquired in April 4, 2002, resided in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States	Dissolved effective March 31, 2004
Concrete Games	Founded in 2004, resided in Carlsbad, California, United States	Dissolved effective January 2008
Mass Media Inc.	Acquired in 2007, resided in California, United States	Spun off effective November 2008
Helixe	Founded in July 2000, resided in Burlington, Massachusetts, United States	Dissolved effective November 2008
Paradigm Entertainment	Acquired from Atari in May 2006, resided in Addison, Texas, United States	Dissolved effective November 2008
Sandblast Games (formerly Cranky Pants Games)	Founded in Kirkland, Washington, United States	Dissolved effective November 2008
Universomo	Acquired in May 2007, resided in Tampere, Finland	Dissolved effective March 2, 2010
Locomotive Games (formerly DT Productions/Pacific Coast Power & Light)	Acquired in 2009, resided in Santa Clara, California, United States	Dissolved effective November 2010
Kaos Studios	Founded in 2006, resided in New York City, New York, United States	Dissolved effective June 13, 2011
THQ Digital Studios UK (formerly Juice Games)	Acquired in 2006, resided in the United Kingdom	Dissolved effective June 13, 2011
Blue Tongue Entertainment	Acquired in November 2004, resided in Melbourne, Australia	Dissolved effective August 10, 2011
THQ Studio Australia	Founded in January 2003, resided in Brisbane, Australia	Dissolved effective August 10, 2011
THQ Digital Studios UK Ltd (formerly THQ Digital Warrington/Juice Games)	Acquired in March 2006 as Juice Games in Warrington, England, United Kingdom. Merged with Rainbow Studios effective 2010 forming the joint company THQ Digital Studios.	Dissolved effective June 2011
THQ Japan	Founded as a Japanese publishing subsidiary, resided in Japan	Dissolved effective February 29, 2012
THQ Studio San Diego	Acquired from Midway Games in August 2009, resided in San Diego, California	Dissolved effective June 4, 2012
Vigil Games	Acquired in 2006, resided in Austin, Texas, United States	Dissolved with THQ effective January 23, 2013
External Development Group (XDG)	Acquired in 2006. An outsourcing, business-to-business and distributed development subsidiary.	Dissolved with THQ effective January 23, 2013
THQ Asia Pacific	Founded in 2000, resided in Melbourne, Australia as THQ's Australasia subsidiary. They distributed games for Sega of Europe from 2002 to 2007 and for Capcom Europe from 2002 until 2009	Dissolved with THQ effective January 23, 2013
Play THQ	Founded for THQ's licensed games for Disney, Pixar, Nickelodeon, and DreamWorks Animation titles	Dissolved with THQ effective January 23, 2013
Incinerator Studios	Founded in 2005 in Carlsbad, California	Spun off effective March 2009, dissolved by Playdek effective January 1, 2017

Sold

Name	Location and/or Purpose	Outcome	Ref.
THQ Wireless	Founded as a mobile software application subsidiary	Sold to 24AMS
Heavy Iron Studios	Founded in 1999, resided in Los Angeles, California, United States	Spun off effective March 2009
Big Huge Games	Acquired in January 2008, resided in Timonium, Maryland, United States	Sold to 38 Studios effective May 2009
ValuSoft	Acquired in 2002, resided in Minneapolis, United States	Sold to Cosmi effective 2012.
Relic Entertainment (formerly THQ Canada)	Acquired in May 2004, resided in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada	Sold to Sega effective January 22, 2013
Volition	Acquired in September 2000, resides in Champaign, Illinois, United States	Sold to Deep Silver effective January 22, 2013
THQ Studio Montreal	Founded in October 2010, resided in Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Sold to Ubisoft effective January 22, 2013
Rainbow Studios (formerly THQ Digital Phoenix)	Acquired in 2001, resided in Arizona, United States. Was re-branded as THQ Digital Phoenix	Acquired by Nordic Games effective 2013

See also

• List of THQ games

Trivia

• The THQ company mainly works for sony entertainment and has a licensing deal with companies such as Nickelodeon.

External links

Template:Commonscat

• Template:Official website
• THQ profile on MobyGames
• Template:Cite web
• THQ on Wikipedia