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THQ lays off 60, focuses Juice Games, Rainbow Studios on downloads
THQ announced a bit of restructuring today, which means, sadly, layoffs. The publisher announced that it's refocusing Juiced developer Juice Games and MX vs. ATV/Deadly Creatures developer Rainbow Studios for content intended for digital distribution. The studios will be renamed THQ Digital Studios Warrington and THQ Digital Studios Phoenix, respectively. About 60 total staff are being laid off as part of this restructuring. Juice Games was already subject to layoffs in late 2008. The studios will develop games for "all major digital platforms, including Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, iPhone and iPad" -- so much for WiiWare and DSiWare -- and will also work together on a community platform to be used across THQ's lineup of core games.
Website reveals THQ's unannounced, cancelled Stormbirds
For all those PS3 owners who love flight sims, we've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that it was recently revealed that THQ was developing, via Juice Games, a multi-platform game called Stormbirds. The bad news is that it was being developed and has since been shot down out of the big blue sky.Stormbirds was one of those titles which got shuffled out during THQ's business realignment, and is unfortunately a title which won't be seen on PS3 anymore. Though gamers won't be able to see the title appear on their consoles, they can still check it out in video form. RealtimeUK has up on its site some of the CG work it has done for the game. You can also gander at some CG stills below, courtesy of our sister site Big Download. We guess it's back to Blazing Angels for you, folks. Gallery: Stormbirds CGI Screenshots
Two sites reveal canceled THQ game: Stormbirds [update]
We knew that THQ's financial turmoil last year led to the unceremonious execution of a few of their in-development titles, but the extent of the damage still isn't fully known to those outside of the company. Recently, two different sources confirmed one of the games that was given the ax -- a flying action game titled Stormbirds, which was being developed by the recently "realigned" THQ-owned studio Juice Games.In addition to an opening cinematic for the game (captures from which are located in the gallery below) which was uploaded by CGI company Realtime:UK, tons of renders and gameplay details were recently posted to the personal blog of former Juice Games environmental artist Greg Calvert. Said blog post has since vanished, but not before our eagle-eyed PC-centric sister site Big Download grabbed the images. Shame, really -- it looks kind of neat.[Update: The source requested we remove the copyrighted renders from the post.] Gallery: Stormbirds CGI Screenshots
Reports: THQ closing 5 studios, downsizing Juice Games
Various reports are emerging today that THQ has sharpened its battle axe and promptly swung ... at itself. Stuntman: Ignition developer Paradigm Entertainment has been closed, reports Gamasutra, and Juice Games has been dealt a crushing blow, losing a third of its staff, according to Develop. Additionally, amidst sinking share value and ongoing internal woes, THQ is poised to make further cuts this week. In fact, a peek at THQ's studio listing reveals the company is -- quite suddenly -- down to 11 studios (compare this to the soon-to-be-updated Wikipedia page, which lists 16 teams). Missing and presumed dead are: Helixe Games, Locomotive Games, Mass Media, Sandblast Games, and aforementioned Paradigm.Tune in Wednesday when the troubled publisher releases its quarterly financial report -- and bring a splatter guard. There will be blood. Source - Juice Games to lay off a third of workforce [Develop]Source - THQ Closes Paradigm Entertainment [Gamasutra]Source - Studio System [THQ]
Juiced (the franchise) dead; Juice Games (the studio) not dead
Despite THQ giving up on their street-racing franchise Juiced, they're keeping series' developer – and new winner of the shortsighted studio naming award – Juice Games around to develop two unannounced games that, managing director Colin Bell tells GamesIndustry.biz, are "very fresh and exciting." Bell was rather candid about the less-than-stellar commercial success of the Juiced franchise and the "sound commercial reasons" that prompted the abandonment of the franchise. We're just hopeful that structural changes at the studio to support two development projects will result in at least one game that satisfies the publisher's newfound desire for original IPs and product quality.
