THQ: IPs Auctioned. Current Developments: Homeworld has gone to Gearbox

[Patticus]

From the lunch room at Relic:

 

[Remy]

It's really heartbreaking reading that piece on Vigil. As a studio I honestly believe they were fantastic. Darksiders 1 was a good game, Darksiders 2 is absolutely fantastic.

 

Some people like to call their games derivative, but I think that's a massive disservice, it's more like a delicious soup of good ideas baked into a Zelda dungeon cake tin. DS2 was the first single player game I was addicted to in a long time.

 

Apparently Platinum Games are interested in Vigil now. Whether that means they just want the DS IP, some of the staff or the whole studio remains to be seen, but one of the DS2 guys got a job offer

[Patticus]

I can see a good lot of Vigil's talent getting job offers over the coming days, weeks and months. That's not to say Darksiders can or will return though. I'd love the developers and DS to come back, resurrected by some caring CEO who didn't expect them to fall so tragically by the wayside, but I can't see it happening.

[Remy]

Yeah it does feel like it's probably going to fall into the forgotten IP abyss, much like System Shock and others before it.

[PSI Wind]

This. All of these development studios and publishers going down are truly what's wrong with the industry these days. The industry is under this faux AAA-Only, big name games with explosions and yearly releases spell are the only things that sell and along with rising prices from HD, they sink fast. I'm getting sick of it and I wish it would stop. Why do you guys think Indie developers are flourishing?

[Patticus]

Yeah it does feel like it's probably going to fall into the forgotten IP abyss, much like System Shock and others before it.

 

System Shock is still remembered, though, partly due to its iconic gaming legend status and partly thanks to the Bioshock series.

 

Darksiders and parent company Vigil, if it not resurrected soon, will probably never be, and will likely be remembered as an okay Zelda-esque series made by a half decent studio. A disservice, sure, but plenty of good and great games and studios from days past are remembered similarly nowadays. Don't ask me to name any, I'm just assuming. I really would love for Darksiders to be saved at the last minute, hopefully with as much of the old team on-board as is possible, but as I said, I just don't see it happening.

 

*Sigh*

 

[Remy]

Aaaah. So I guess it'll be more like Legacy of Kain then

[Phos]

Supposedly, Vigil is now dead. Darksiders has gone to Take-Two.

And Deep Silver now have Volition Inc. and Saints Row, apparently.

 

This is all supposedly though.

 

EDIT:

Letter to employees-SEGA have indeed bought Relic. Ubisoft have South Park.

 

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46809869&postcount=2352

Wait, is this true, that Take 2 bought Darksiders but not Vigil?  I'm not a fan of Darksiders but that seems pretty slimy if true.  

 

 

I believe Sonic is dressed as a Blood Angel Chaplain, pretty amusing, that.  I look forward to the inevitable fanart crossovers in the coming weeks. 

[Dr. Homem]

Looks like the employees of Vigil and THQ's unsold sections can find work at Naughty Dog:

 

 

I'm certain many other studios will do the same, probably with less publicity. It's just natural in the industry when this kind of layoff happens. Blizzard, for example, has a history of contacting developers for hire. Best of luck to them.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Dr. Homem

[Patticus]

I'm still surprised that no-one put a sneaky low offer in for Vigil. Nintendo could have made good use of their talents, for example.

[Blue Wisp]

I'm /really/ sad that Vigil didn't have any bids. Are the developers blind or are they just dense. Darksiders is one of the most acclaimed videogame series by gamers yet they end up like this. That letter was heartbreaking.

 

Apparently Platinum Games' boss got interest in purchasing Vigil (EDIT: Darksiders, not Vigil, my mistake.) if possible, though?

Edited January 24, 2013 by Natalie Wisp

[MykonosFan]

Apparently Platinum Games' boss got interest in purchasing Vigil (EDIT: Darksiders, not Vigil, my mistake.) if possible, though?

 

Yes, another PG employee has also made an open offer for Vigil employees to work at/with PG. 

 

https://twitter.com/verytragic/status/294243303623376896

 

Definitely interesting!

[Blue Wisp]

Oh man. If Platinum Games purchases the Darksiders franchise that would be really awesome. Would be good if they hired the job-less guys in Vigil too, but I think that'd be a bit too hard to do.

Either way if Platinum purchases Darksiders, the franchise will REALLY be in good hands. <3

[Carbo]

WWE might not have been acquired by EA at all. Take-Two was the highest bidder apparently.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/23/wwe-video-game-license-to-be-acquired-by-take-two

[Jango]

Looks like the employees of Vigil and THQ's unsold sections can find work at Naughty Dog:

 

 

I'm certain many other studios will do the same, probably with less publicity. It's just natural in the industry when this kind of layoff happens. Blizzard, for example, has a history of contacting developers for hire. Best of luck to them.

 

 

ND is hiring? I mean, Jason Rubin was working at THQ (I think he was the president of it)... God knows what could happen if he returns to ND.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Jango

[Stacy]

I'm still surprised that no-one put a sneaky low offer in for Vigil. Nintendo could have made good use of their talents, for example.

 

Nintendo cares about Nintendo. Not saying that is a bad thing but they seem to stick to what they know when publishing games themselves.

 

Shame really. Its a shame that no has offered to buy Vigil I hope there is still time to find them a good home. But in this climate I am surprised some publishers are taking a bit of a gamble buying the developer studios as it is.

Edited January 24, 2013 by BW199148

[Patticus]

Nintendo cares about Nintendo. Not saying that is a bad thing but they seem to stick to what they know when publishing games themselves.

 

Vigil's last two games were pretty much what Nintendo knows - Zelda/Metroid style adventures. They were a studio with a talent for making exactly the kinds of games Nintendo makes.

 

It's just a shame that Nintendo didn't put in a bid, because I think that it would've been very much a match made in heaven.

[Stacy]

Vigil's last two games were pretty much what Nintendo knows - Zelda/Metroid style adventures. They were a studio with a talent for making exactly the kinds of games Nintendo makes.

 

It's just a shame that Nintendo didn't put in a bid, because I think that it would've been very much a match made in heaven.

 

 

Only problem is they are quite dark. Nintendo doesn't publish darker games themselves these days why I don't know. Instead they do deals with other publishers to put out exclusive darker games for them instead.

 

I don't know why you would want Nintendo to exclusively publish them along with other THQ developers you have mentioned? 

 

I would rather them go to a decent publisher that does multi-platform but that's me.

[Dr. Homem]

ND is hiring? I mean, Jason Rubin was working at THQ (I think he was the president of it)... God knows what could happen if he returns to ND.

I'd actually like to see Jason Rubin stay in a good position of the industry. He's awesome, shame he picked up THQ right when it was crumbling - and even then he did what he could, with the Humble Bundle and all.

 

That being said, now that it's all over, I'd like to state THQ went out is the best possible style imaginable. - in the heart of the gamers. In many forums and websites you could see people give their sympathy to them throughout the whole proccess.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Dr. Homem

[Patticus]

Only problem is they are quite dark. Nintendo doesn't publish darker games themselves these days why I don't know. Instead they do deals with other publishers to put out exclusive darker games for them instead.

 

I don't know why you would want Nintendo to exclusively publish them along with other THQ developers you have mentioned? 

 

I would rather them go to a decent publisher that does multi-platform but that's me.

 

Nintendo published Eternal Darkness, the Metroid Prime trilogy got pretty damn creepy at times, and Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess all feature certain dark themes amidst the light and colour. Also, they recently started pushing hard to get more adult games on their systems; GTA: Chinatown Wars was an early example of this behind-the-scenes activity, as is Darksiders II on the Wii U. Nintendo does a lot of upbeat games, and that might be what the company is best known for, but don't mistake that for some fear or avoidance of darker themes.

 

Also, I only said that I thought Nintendo should buy out Vigil; I haven't recently said anything about them picking up THQ's other properties or studios. I just see Vigil as being a good fit for Nintendo. But Nintendo obviously didn't feel the same way.

[TheGerkuman]

I'm glad that most of the studios have gone into good hands, with Crytek getting the series they were commissioned to make a game for, South Park getting published and SEGA getting their hands on another battle simulation series. (Maybe they're going to merge Relic and Creative Assembly together).

 

And I'm sure Vigil will get bought up. The whole reason you put something to auction is the belief that competition will make it go for more than closed-door deals. (With the buyers hoping that no-one else bids so they can get it at a cheaper price). Now that THQ are shopping around for buyers and offering a cheaper deal they'll probably find a home.

[Candescence]

Okay, this is interesting.

 

An indie developer is trying to raise funds to buy the Homeworld IP from THQ when they begin to sell off their other stuff later. Sega didn't buy the IP along with Relic.

 

So far, the studio's plans include bringing the original games to GoG and Steam, and porting them to touch devices as well.

 

Quite frankly, I'd rather let them have it than see it go to a publisher who won't do jack shit with the IP. And considering the industry as it is now, I don't see anyone doing it, especially not Sega.

[Voyant]

Opps wrong topic :3

Edited January 25, 2013 by Voyant

[Dr. Homem]

Jason Rubin Interview, talks about THQ's last days

 

Notable parts:

 

What are you going to do next? My focus right now is helping the THQ employees who are out of work find jobs. I am lucky enough that this process doesn’t negatively impact my family. That is not true for hundreds of people.
It would be selfish to think about myself right now.

This really is an admirable thing to do.

 

What happens to THQ's back catalog – especially for franchises that THQ once owned, but weren't sold off?  What happens to properties like Darksiders and Red Faction?
There will be a separate process to sell off the back catalog and IP. That process will take place in the coming weeks.

This means the IPs can still go to another publisher, and we might see Darksiders III, for example.

[Patticus]

Darksiders III by a whole new team may not necessarily look or feel anything like it should. World, level, weapon and character designs may also degrade. It needs to go to a studio of real talent. Red Faction has been pretty awful of late, so the opposite applies - while it does need a good studio too, it can't get any worse than Armageddon. Whoever gets Red Faction will need to get the GEO-MOD rights too, or develop their own version of it. Could be a long, expensive process.