The twitterverse was on fire today with a rumor from IGDA mobile SIG head Kevin Dent, who claimed that publisher THQ dropped its entire 2014 games lineup and has put itself up for sale to “Asian firms” in an attempt to increase value. The publisher has now officially denied the rumor.
Dent has also added:
Word is spreading that THQ has returned IP to Disney AFTER paying the advance, with no refund.
THQ later responded to the claims, which included suggestions that the MMO Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium Online had been cancelled:
THQ has not cancelled its 2014 line-up, and has not made any decisions regarding the planned MMO. As part of the ongoing review of our business, we have made decisions to ensure that the company is strategically addressing the most attractive markets. As we have previously announced, we have dramatically reduced our commitment to the kids’ boxed games sector which leads to a significantly more focused release schedule moving forward. Our slate for calendar 2012 and beyond is focused on high-quality core games and continues to build our digital platform and business. We are excited for our pipeline of original and high-quality content along with our relationships with some of the best talent in the industry.
Additionally, we are thrilled with the great performance of Saints Row: The Third, which on a like for like period in North America has tripled in sell-through from Saints Row 2. In addition, WWE ’12’s worldwide sell-through sales are up almost 40% year-over-year for the same sales period with fewer platforms. According to NPD, for the month of December and the 2011 year, THQ was the #5 publisher overall, #4 third party, with reported sell through growing over 18% in a market that was down almost 6%. And coming up next, we have two great titles for the first half of the year including UFC Undisputed 3 and Darksiders 2.
Although the rumor now seems to be false, the reasoning behind it probably stemmed from the publisher’s poor 2011. The company closed five different studios and made various staff cuts due to lackluster sales for some of their games, while the uDraw Game Tablet failed to capture much of an audience on HD consoles, causing the development team to be sacked.
[Via]
