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THQ UK studio officially shuttered, three new companies take its place
It's been exactly one month to the day since THQ announced plans to close both Kaos Studios (creator of Homefront) and its UK-based digital studio, THQ Warrington (creator of Red Faction Battlegrounds and Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team). And while the former studio has been closed since last month, the latter has just finished up its legally required "notification process." But enough with the upsetting stuff -- there's good news, too! Though the Warrington studio just closed, three companies have already sprung from its ashes: D3T, a "concept team" named Alien Apple Studios, and an unnamed studio helmed by former creative director Don Whiteford and former production director Richard Badger. Of the approximately 50 employees at THQ Warrington when it closed, 36 had their employment terminated "effective immediately," while another 10 are said to be seeing the studio through the PSN release of Warhammer 40K: Kill Team, set for some point later this summer. Additionally, THQ Warrington founder Colin Bell will be taking an extended break from game development, though he couldn't help but point out before leaving that the Juiced franchise (which his team developed) has moved "over 5 million" units in its lifetime, and that Kill Team "will be a great parting product for the studio." Sony UK and Motorstorm studio Evolution have apparently extended offers to some ex-THQ employees for consultancy work, and we have high hopes that the rest of the studio's affected devs will land on their feet.
Red Faction: Battlegrounds announced for XBLA, PSN by THQ Digital
In a panel at the just-kicked-off GDC Europe conference in Germany, THQ Digital creative director Don Whiteford revealed his studio's first major title, Red Faction: Battlegrounds, being built by a core team of just four people. As reported by Gamasutra, THQ Digital Warrington – formerly known as Juice Games – is working on the companion game, due for release on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network before next year's March retail release of Red Faction: Armageddon. THQ's Danny Bilson previously said it would be available "three or four months" before Armageddon, putting the downloadable title's launch somewhere around December of this year. Gamasutra reported that Battlegrounds is a "topdown car, mech and rover combat title [...] with up to four players on the same screen" and offers the ability to "unlock unique elements in Red Faction: Armageddon." As for why a downloadable Red Faction game comes so close to a major retail release, Whiteford said that while " margins were looking very healthy in this space," a key part of the strategy is "building awareness and loyalty for the company's core brand products." And it seems to be working. This is our fourth post mentioning the game and it's only just been announced! [Update: THQ has dropped the press release – found after the break – and it's got some additional details. First, it's due for release in 2011 so, keeping with Bilson's earlier comments, we imagine an early 2011 launch. The game features destructible environments, just like its console cousins, and supports four-player local and online "pick-up-and-play multiplayer." The game is described as "a fast-paced multiplayer-focused vehicular combat game in which fast-attack vehicles, heavy tanks and combat walkers wreak havoc above ground and beneath the surface of Mars." It's apparently playable at Gamescom this week in Germany, so expect some impressions here shortly!] [Update 2: We've got the first trailer and screens from the game here. Or you can always click the handy "screens" or "video" tabs above.]
