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THQ stock plummets 50 percent
THQ's stock is (as of this writing) down 42 percent, trading at $1.74, following yesterday's dramatic second quarter earnings conference call.The conference call, which totaled 12 minutes, concluded with CEO Brian Farrell saying that the company had been "advised not to conduct a [question and answer] session" following prepared remarks because it is currently "exploring strategic alternatives" with a company that handles private equity deals.THQ took drastic measures a few months ago to save its stock, after shares fell below a dollar and the company was threatened with NASDAQ delisting. The solution was a 10-to-one reverse stock split, turning THQ's 70 million shares into 7 million. That action moved the decimal point on the company's $0.51/share stock into $5.16/share. THQ's market capitalization at the time stood at $35.4 million. Now, a couple months later, with today's drop it sits at $11.9 million.THQ has been working other angles to obtain cash to continue doing business, selling off its UFC license earlier this year to Electronic Arts for an "undisclosed cash payment." Selling off more assets is still on the table, but the company doesn't plan to disclose developments or progress until the board and its advisers at Centerview Partners LLC deem it appropriate.Update: THQ's stock closed the day at $1.50/share, down 50 percent.
THQ explores 'strategic alternatives' with private equity broker
THQ's second quarter earnings conference call today totaled 12 minutes. Executives rattled through the financial quarter, noted game delays and CEO Brian Farrell concluded that the company had been "advised not to conduct a [question and answer] session" following prepared remarks. Since these calls usually last about an hour, this was unusual.THQ's sudden case of tongue-biting has to do with it "exploring strategic alternatives" with a company called Centerview Partners LLC. This company's job is to evaluate financing alternatives to improve THQ's overall cash. The company notes that it does not plan to disclose developments or progress until the board deems it appropriate.We spoke to sources with knowledge of companies like Centerview Partners and their take is THQ is attempting to go private. Centerview Partners is a broker for private equity deals, which means THQ's shareholders would preferably be out of the picture. THQ's stock is currently trading at $3.02, following drastic measures to retain its listing; it should also be noted after hours trading has been suspended.
WWE 13 review: Gimme a hell yeah
Pro wrestling is all about details. Devoted fans know the nuances of some of the biggest moments in the business' history well, from the formation of the Brothers of Destruction to Stone Cold Steve Austin soaking Vince McMahon in beer. A video game that dives into the rich history of the WWE is forced to reconcile all the details of the entertainment product. WWE 13 often meets those expectations, but is not the best there is, was, or ever will be.Much like past games, WWE 13 continues to push the illusion of wrestling, which is perfectly acceptable. It's a combat game with fighting mechanics, and some of those mechanics have been cleaned up since last year. One-button reversals now have an added indicator to tell you if your trigger finger is too fast or too slow (based on the small window to execute reversals, it often is). The "OMG" moments addition provide spectacular, albeit circumstantial events that can turn the tide of matches – things like trucking an opponent through the outside barrier by the crowd or heavier opponents actually causing the ring to collapse. Aside from these improvements, the in-ring action hasn't seen much change; players seem to transition a little more smoothly between moves, and most of the buggy, "jarring" animations in WWE 12 were cleaned up. Wrestling feels largely the same in this game, just a touch more fluid.%Gallery-167489%
5 million copies of Saints Row: The Third shipped
A bright spot in THQ's awkwardly brief investor call today: the company reports that Saints Row: The Third has shipped five million units, in line with the performance THQ expected from the crass sandbox game over its lifetime.A sequel is currently underway, due "beyond fiscal 2013," meaning sometime after April 2013. It incorporates content from a canceled SR3 expansion, Enter the Dominatrix.
THQ's Q2 sees $107 million in net sales, needs more money for delays
THQ posted net sales of $107 million and an operating loss of $19 million in fiscal 2013's second quarter, which ended September 30. This is compared with 2012's Q2 results of $146 million in net sales, and an operating loss of $97 million.In a bid to stay afloat, in 2012 THQ has undergone corporate reshuffling, has closed studios, laid off staff, rearranged its product line and enacted a reverse stock split. THQ's most recent mainstream launch was Darksiders 2, which sold 1.4 million copies in Q2 2013. THQ CEO Brian Farrell said these sales were "below our expectations."THQ delayed South Park: The Stick of Truth, Company of Heroes 2 and Metro: Last Light today, citing a need for more time to realize the games' full potentials. This means THQ may seek more money from outside investors and through internal shake-ups in the interim, the fiscal report said."The calendar movement for the release of games will likely create a need for additional capital. THQ has engaged Centerview Partners LLC to assist the company in evaluating strategic and financing alternatives intended to improve THQ's overall liquidity, including raising additional capital, preserve the company's ability to bring the best possible games to market during the most advantageous release windows and to help address the $100 million 5% convertible senior notes due August 2014."
South Park: The Stick of Truth pushed past April; Metro and Company of Heroes also delayed
South Park: The Stick of Truth, Metro: Last Light and Company of Heroes 2 have all been hit with delays, THQ announced today. South Park: The Stick of Truth will now launch in "early Fiscal 2014" (that's from April 1, 2013, and onward). Company of Heroes 2 and Metro: Last Light are now expected to ship in March. The South Park RPG, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, was previously slated for March 5, 2013. THQ's flagship RTS, Company of Heroes 2, and the post-apocalyptic FPS Metro: Last Light, didn't have official dates locked in, but are now expected "later than initially planned."
Test your trivia and linguistic acumen with Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune demos
It's a Daily Double and you're betting it all. Ready?Answer: Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.Clock is ticking, genius. What's it going to be?Question: What are today's demos on Xbox Live?Queue applause. If that one doesn't do it for you, let's give the other game a try. This puzzle is from the "Game demos on Xbox Live today" category:WH( )( )L OF FO( )TU( )( ) A( )D J( )OPA( )DYGot it? Good job. Now try this one:A( )( )HOLEThat's right – "Armhole." Congrats! Now download THQ's take on Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy demos on Xbox Live to give the real games a whirl. They're also up on PSN.
Darksiders 2 Abyssal Forge DLC engineers October 30 release date
Darksiders 2 is getting its second chunky piece of DLC in time for Halloween, with Abyssal Forge available to download on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC on October 30. Except if you're playing on PS3 in Europe, in which case you'll have to wait one day longer, until Halloween itself. Abyssal Forge is priced higher than Argul's Tomb, coming in at $9.99 or 800 MSP.Vigil Games further detailed the DLC today, which features a new swampy area called Shadow Lands. It includes two new dungeons, along with new enemies and unique loot. Vigil claims Abyssal Forge features "the hardest enemies and puzzles yet."It'll also spotlight the meaty-looking dude in the above picture. He's an outcast known as the Mad Smith who's been wasting his years away by building an army, probably with that giant thingamabob he's holding. We expect he'll find another use for it when you meet him in Shadow Lands.
Darksiders 2 creative director Joe Madureira leaves Vigil Games
Vigil Games founder and creative director Joe Madureira has left the company. The news comes via a tweet, in which Madureira bids farewell to Vigil, thanks publisher THQ and refers to the Darksiders franchise as a "career highlight." In a message on his Facebook fan page, Madureira notes, "I could not be more proud of what we achieved, or the awesome people who helped build up this studio." He adds that Vigil is "in very good hands, so expect only awesomeness down the road."Madureira plans to reveal "the Next Big Thing" soon. In the meantime, the well-known artist is focusing on his other job, namely "banging out a bunch of comics."Vigil's most recent game, Darksiders 2, topped the NPD sales chart for August, selling 247,000 copies. Only time will tell what Madureira's departure means for Vigil – and possibly for publisher THQ, which has a lot riding on the success of Darksiders 2.
Metro 2033 price cut in half on Xbox Live starting tomorrow
If you like Eastern European first-person shooters, paranormal nuclear fallout, and desperately gasping for air, then you, friend, are in luck. That's if you don't already have Metro 2033, because THQ is cutting the 2010 cult hit down to half-price on Xbox Live, starting tomorrow. The publisher tells us the novel adaptation will be available on Games on Demand for $9.99 until Monday, October 22.If you missed the recent Steam sale (or if you'd prefer the game on Xbox) then this isn't a bad consolation offer for a tense shooter we handed four out of five stars to. But for the love of Бог don't forget your gas mask.
Metro: Last Light dev removes multiplayer, focusing resources on single-player
Metro: Last Light will no longer include a multiplayer component when it launches early next year, developer 4A Games announced today on the game's official blog. Multiplayer had previously been revealed soon after the game's 2011 announcement, something the blog notes was "probably a mistake.""Throughout the development of Metro: Last Light a small, dedicated team had been working on a number of multiplayer prototypes," the entry reads. "After E3, we decided to fold this multiplayer team back into the main group and focus 100% of the studio's resources on the single player campaign. As a result, Metro: Last Light will not ship with a multiplayer component." 4A Games believes that the game's single-player campaign is "what the fanbase cares about the most."Whether multiplayer will be added post-launch as DLC or an update is uncertain. "Right now we're 100% focused on the single player campaign and not thinking beyond that. We don't like throwing away work though, it's a project we could potentially return to after Metro: Last Light ships."%Gallery-157492%
Del Toro still shopping 'Insane' concept around, hired GlaDOS for his movie
THQ may have put the kibosh on director Guillermo del Toro's Insane project, but that doesn't mean the idea is dead and gone forever.Del Toro is in the middle of doing press for his upcoming Pacific Rim movie at the New York Comic Con this week, and he mentioned that he's still trying to find a good game company partner for Insane. "Now we are talking to developers," Del Toro said, according to Kotaku. "When something doesn't happen in one way, I just continue pursuing it in another way. I'm not giving up on Insane."Asked for a dream developer to work with, Del Toro said he's a big fan of Valve and the games they make. In fact, one of the robots in Pacific Rim will be played by voice actress Ellen McClain, also known as GlaDOS from Valve's Portal series. "I called the guys at Valve and said, you know how much I am a fan of Portal, can the AI be GlaDOS?" Del Toro said.
THQ agrees Australian distribution deal, 18 jobs lost in AU closure
THQ today announced it's in the process of closing its Melbourne offices, and will be laying off 18 employees as a result. Speaking to Gamasutra, THQ revealed the company signed a new distribution agreement for Australia with All Interactive Entertainment, thereby making its Asia-Pacific office based in Melbourne defunct. The offices are to be closed across the coming months. 14 of the company's Australian employees had already lost their jobs earlier this year.This is the latest in several rounds of layoffs made by the North American publisher this year. In February the company announced restructuring would force 240 of its employees to lose their jobs. Reports then came in that its Japanese office had closed down, then in the summer its San Diego office closed too. Soon after the company consolidated quality assurance into one Montreal office, with 57 employees affected and some laid off completely. Two months ago, THQ cut its marketing and production staff by 20 employees.
Steam weekend sale on THQ games, Metro 2033 is $5 today only
All this weekend, THQ games are on sale through Steam. On top of a 50% discount on the embattled publisher's entire catalogue, each day will see a select game receiving even further discounts in a daily spotlight.Like today – Metro 2033 is in the spotlight and available for only $5. This deal only lasts for today, so if you want to get a head start on Metro: Last Light, now may not be a bad time.
Company of Heroes 2 calls for smart, aggressive decision-makers
While the rhythms of authenticity and graphics aren't faint, the drum Relic Entertainment is keenest to bang with Company of Heroes 2 is that of getting commanders to play smart. Quinn Duffy, the game's director, tells us that from a gameplay standpoint the biggest thing his team is focusing on is re-injecting tactics into its real-time strategy."We want to be rewarding smart players," Duffy told us, "It's not an APM (actions-per-minute) game. To play Company of Heroes 2 you need to play smart and be aggressive in your decision making. We want smart players to be able to maximize the value of their units. A guy playing smart with his defenses and his cover and his movement, you want him to beat up on a guy with three squads."
Company of Heroes 2 deploys Digital Collector's edition, pre-order goodies
War may never change, but it certainly has gotten more expensive. The frugal warmonger must secure funds for a conflict as early as possible, and THQ is hoping to capitalize on this need with pre-order incentives for Company of Heroes 2.Plunking down money right now will grant you German Rotbraun and Soviet Leningrad skins for medium-weight vehicles. Pre-ordering through Steam will enlist you in the Steam Pre-Purchase Tiered Reward Program, which grants players goods in Team Fortress 2 and Relic Entertainment's Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2. A pre-order through Origin tosses in the Soviet Bryansk Front vehicle skin for heavy vehciles, while pre-ordering directly through THQ awards a free Command Pass that unlocks bonus multiplayer maps and entrance into "exclusive member's only events." The Command Pass will also be available for purchase following launch.A $99 Digital Collector's edition is aimed at those who find their war coffers are overflowing, granting access to the first three single-player content packs post-launch, some additional vehicle skins, and a veteran badge displayed next to your name. Plus, this edition will pack in the original Company of Heroes and its two expansion packs.%Gallery-166158%
Darksiders 2 first DLC, Argul's Tomb, comes for Death on September 25
Argul's Tomb, the ice-based DLC for Darksiders 2, is set to launch on September 25 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, for $7 (560 Microsoft Points).Argul's Tomb comes free with the Limited Edition of Darksiders 2, including anyone who pre-ordered the game. It will come packaged with the Wii U version of Darksiders 2 when that console hits in the US on November 18.
Relic auctioning collectors items for cancer society
Relic is selling memorabilia on eBay – not to help its precarious parent company THQ – but for the nobler cause of the Canadian Cancer Society. The studio is gathering money for an event called Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, where each team has to raise $10,000 to participate in a dawn 'til dusk hockey tournament. All the money goes directly to the charity. Also, we can't think of a more Canadian charity event we'd care to write about today."We're closing in on our goal, but we still need a bit more money – so we're holding an auction for some signed swag," Relic designer Ryan McGechaen told us. "We have a ton of cool stuff, including an unopened copy of Homeworld 2 signed by the dev team!"Other items up for auction, signed by their respective development teams, include a Company of Heroes 2 notebook, Space Marine: Collector's Edition for Xbox 360 and several posters. Check out the items on eBay – shouldn't it be eBeh?
Metro 2033 movie hopes to see the light of day
Metro 2033, the post-apocalyptic shooter from 4A Games set in Russia, actually isn't an entirely new concept. The video game is based on a pretty popular book by author Dmitry Glukhovsky. MGM has optioned the rights to the book and is now looking to adapt it into a film.The Hollywood Reporter says MGM snagged the rights and will have rookie writer F. Scott Frazier create a script. Little is known right now outside of Frazier and some production talent's involvement, so creative liberties may be taken. We're crossing our fingers for one scene where the protagonist accidentally uses some scrounged perfect ammo in his gun then gets mad at himself when he realizes its market value.
Darksiders 2 DLC 'Argul's Tomb' has hell frozen over
Argul's Tomb, the first piece of DLC for Darksiders 2, is set to launch "in the next few weeks," a reveal video from IGN shows. Argul's Tomb is free for those who pre-ordered Darksiders 2, and it will be included in the Wii U version on launch day.Argul's Tomb is a far-away realm that hides legendary items and weapons within its icy, frozen confines, and has two new dungeons and one open area for an on-rails shooter.
