There’s two sides to every story, even the sad ones. Recently THQ have hit hard times, dropping waves of admin staff and severe stock issues. Things might be on the up though, earlier this week they signed a publishing deal with new developers Innovative Leisure. It’s too soon to say if this will help save the ailing company but it’s certainly a start.
[quote]“We are always looking to work with the best creative talent in the video games industry and we feel this relationship with Innovative Leisure reinforces our goal. We are committed to delivering creative games through digital distribution and Innovative Leisure has the expertise to deliver remarkable and cutting edge games for a new generation.” ,” – Danny Bilson, executive vice president, Core Games, THQ. “[/quote]
The agreement gives THQ the rights to publish multiple titles from the new studio, starting in 2012. Innovative Leisure themselves are a new company that features a lot of industry veterans. The The team includes Seamus Blackley (”father of the Xbox”), Van Burnham(Supercade), Ed Logg (Asteroids, Centipede, Gauntlet), Rich Adam (Missile Command, Gravitar, PGA Tour Golf), Tim Skelly (Rip Off, Star Castle, Reactor), Owen Rubin (Major Havoc, Space Duel), and Ed Rotberg (Battlezone, S.T.U.N. Runner, Steel Talons)
[quote]“It’s a great honor (and a lot of fun) to get the opportunity to work with so many of the designers responsible for the gameplay mechanics that form the basis of our whole medium. We’re excited about getting to make and release a bunch of awesome games.” said Seamus Blackley, President of Innovative Leisure.[/quote]
This may be good news for THQ but it’s a little odd as there’s already a great deal of dispute surrounding the future of other games that fall within the umbrella of THQ. As for what games to expect from Innovative Leisure? Who knows, only time will tell at this point.
As it stands at the moment THQ’s stock is at just over $0.61, this is still under the $1 NASDAQ limit but there are some signs of improvement after Fridays rapid fall.
