NEWS - Tuesday, February 26, 2013
THQ auctioning off final remaining franchises
There are still many assets left unclaimed after THQ’s fire sale. Today, the company has announced that it will sell off its remaining IP through a court-supervised auction. THQ expects bidding and sale to finish by May.
Six bundled "lots" of IPs will be up for bidding, including Darksiders, Red Faction, Homeworld, MX, and two other batches of software that covers "owned software" and "licensed software."
According to THQ, the company has received "more than 100 expressions of interest in purchasing various titles." For example, Platinum Games has admitted interest in the Darksiders franchise, which was left on the table in the first round of sales. If the studio were able to buy the IP, it would have to develop further games in the series by itself, as many former Vigil members have moved onto Crytek USA.
Of particular interest to the Shack community is the sale of the Homeworld IP. Relic Entertainment’s strategy game hasn’t had a proper follow-up since 2003. Sega currently owns that studio; would they be interested in buying the franchise rights as well?
Bundled together in THQ’s "owned software" offerings include games like Frontlines: Fuel of War, Full Spectrum Warrior, de Blob, Destroy All Humans!, Drawn to Life, and uDraw--which is largely responsible for the collapse of the company.
"Licensed software" up for grabs includes Double Fine’s Costume Quest and Stacking. Could Tim Schafer and company re-acquire the rights for the games they originally developed? For a full list of all the IPs available for sale, and to find out how you can participate in the bidding process, we recommend reading the full press release.
Source: www.shacknews.com
