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THQ's new prez stands behind Montreal studio, though 'there may be empty seats'
When THQ announced its Montreal, Canada-based studio in 2009, the plan seemed a bit on the ambitious side. 400 new employees across five years, two big projects – one of which is overseen by ex-Assassin's Creed creative lead Patrice Desilets, the other being a followup to 2011's Homefront – and a brand new campus meant a lot of money needed to be spent, even with a potentially generous tax credit from the Canadian government.And that was long before THQ's recent financial troubles. It's in that context that we asked newly hired president Jason Rubin to address the future of the Montreal location during an E3 interview. "I think the decision needs to be made which projects we can do, what we can afford to do, and stick to it. Even though THQ Montreal's space may be bigger than what we need right now, there's nothing about that space that prevents us from succeeding," Rubin said.We asked Rubin whether THQ could fulfill the planned 400-person contract across five years in its current financial state. "There may be empty seats," he admitted, but he's not worried that those contractual obligations will affect THQ – nor the Montreal location's – long-term survival. "I'm not saying that we wouldn't fulfill our obligations," Rubin told us. "But assuming for a moment that we don't reach whatever our contractual obligations are, there are very specific clauses in the contract that say what would happen. And I've read the contract, I've gone over it, it was one of the things I did before starting. And there's nothing about the contract or our failing under that contract that would cause the company to fail."Rubin stressed that THQ under his leadership remains dedicated to the Montreal studio and its agreement with the government. "I love Montreal. I definitely wanna do right by Montreal, and I definitely wanna fill that studio. But having said that, if we fail to do that for any reason, that's not going to be a cause for failure for the company." He also addressed potential concern that other THQ studios employees could be moved to the Montreal location. "Were I able to pick up and move people without worry about their families, the projects they're working on, and everything else, I would fill that space in a second," Rubin said.Beyond the co-developed Homefront sequel and the unknown Desilets project, it is unclear what else THQ Montreal is working on, if anything.
Annual ESA report boasts perfect 43-0 record against gaming regulation
Here's a lesson that governmental bodies across the nation just can't seem to learn -- if you try to regulate the sale of video games for any reason, you're stepping to the ESA. When you step to the ESA, you're gonna get burned. We've seen examples of the ESA's domination over would-be gaming regulators in the past -- but the organization's latest annual report put a number to their success: 43 legal victories, zero losses.That's 43 bills over the past year that hoped to restrict the sale of video games in some manner that didn't become laws due to the ESA's legal intervention. In addtion, the group has also promoted tax incentives for game developers which were approved in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan and Texas (and are being considered in 17 other states). In short, if you see an ESA member today, you should probably give them a high-five.
Group seeks to turn Illadelph into 'the Hollywood for video games'
Like the smattering of American states and, umm, international unions that have already begun financially incentivizing game development, a few Philadelphians hope to convince the city's legislature to do the same. Philadelphia's City Paper reports that the Video game Growth Initiative recently presented its case for economic growth through game development to "representatives from state government and city economic groups."Though the representatives suggested the re-packaging of "already existing business incentives," the group has bigger plans for its ideas, saying, "That's still not enough, it's not like other cities don't have these kinds of incentives." For now, the VGI is preparing a website that will enlighten tentative game studios to the "already existing" financial reasons why they should move to the City of Brotherly Love. Personally, this writer thinks the incredible food, amazing selection of beer, and Joystiq's own Chris Grant would be incentive enough. [Image credit] [Via GamePolitics]
Oklahoma senator proposes tax incentives for devs of non-Mature games
Oklahoma offers a surprisingly accommodating atmosphere for media producers -- the state offers tax incentives for many creators of TV shows, films and commercials, provided they do said production in-state. Now, Sen. Anthony Sykes (R) is attempting to offer the same sweet deal to creators of video games, but with one small caveat -- the incentives would only apply to developers of games that garner a Teen rating or lower from the ESRB.It's a policy that's not exactly equal to somewhat similar restrictions placed on the other types incentive-earning media -- for instance, to be eligible, films and TV shows cannot contain child pornography or obscenity, meaning an R rated film or TV-MA show could ostensibly earn the incentive, while a video game adaptation of said film/show likely would not. It's not clear whether the bill will pick up enough momentum to get passed, though a similar bill was successfully adopted in neighboring state Texas.
