THQ

THQ Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NASDAQ: THQI
Industry	Video game industry Interactive entertainment
Founded	1989 (as Trinity Acquisition Corporation)[1]
Headquarters	Agoura Hills, California, USA
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Brian J. Farrell (Chairman, CEO, President) Ian Curran (SVP Int'l Publishing)
Products	Red Faction series Tak series Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War WWE Games Saints Row series Destroy All Humans! series Summoner UFC Undisputed series uDraw GameTablet Homefront
Revenue	US$665 million (2011)[2]
Net income	US$136 million (2011)[3]
Website	www.THQ.com

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices. THQ has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

The company publishes internally created and externally licensed content in its product portfolio. THQ's internally created franchises include Saints Row, Frontlines: Fuel of War, Red Faction, MX vs. ATV, Company of Heroes and others. The company also holds exclusive, long-term licensing agreements with leading sports and entertainment content creators including World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Games Workshop (Warhammer 40,000), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Nickelodeon and Disney-Pixar. It has announced net sales of $830.0 million in 2008, down from $1,030.5 million in the year previous. Net losses were $431 million for the 12 months ending March 2009, down from $35.3 million in the year previous.

History

Trinity Acquisition Corporation was founded in 1989. In 1991, it merged with Toy Head-Quarters, a toy manufacturer founded in 1990 by Jack Friedman. The combined company branched out to the video game industry and adopted the name T*HQ, inspired by the first letters of Toy Head-Quarters even though Trinity Acquisition was the surviving entity. T*HQ was eventually renamed to THQ in 1994 and left the toy business to concentrate solely on video games.

The company began building out its internal product development capabilities in September 2000 with the acquisition of Volition, Inc. located in Champaign, IL. Since then, THQ's internal studio system has grown to eleven studios across the globe with distinct capabilities across all viable gaming platforms. Studios such as Relic Entertainment, Vigil Games, Blue Tongue Entertainment, Juice Games, Kaos Studios and Volition, Inc., who work on games for next-generation consoles as well as PCs.

THQ's global distribution network includes offices in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific as follows: United States, Canada and Mexico; Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; Australia, Japan, and South Korea. Key THQ Wireless brands include Star Wars, WWE and certain Disney-Pixar properties. THQ Wireless serves content via many major carriers worldwide including Sprint, Motorola, Nokia (N-gage), AT&T, Sony-Ericsson, Orange in Europe and others.

Major franchises include games based on THQ's long standing licensing relationships with WWE, Disney/Pixar and Nickelodeon. The company also holds long-term rights to Bratz from MGA Entertainment and Warhammer 40,000 from Games Workshop.

In 2006, THQ acquired Vigil Games.^[4]

On May 10, 2007, THQ reported its highest annual sales figures and net profits ever for the fiscal year which ended March 31. THQ's revenues reached over $1 billion.

In March 2008, THQ announced they were to develop the world's first ever cheerleading game using the Wii Balance Board.^[5]

On November 3, 2008, the company closed five of its internal studios.^[6]

In March 2009, THQ spun off Heavy Iron Studios and Incinerator Studios as independent companies, and announced it was looking to sell Big Huge Games.

In May 2009, THQ agreed to sell Big Huge Games to 38 Studios.

In August 2009, THQ acquired Midway Studios San Diego for $200,000. The sale of the studio includes all assets, except for the TNA iMPACT! video game.^[7]

In February 2010, they announced that Juice Games and Rainbow Studios would be part of a reshuffle, and would now bear the title THQ Digital Warrington and THQ Digital Phoenix respectively. It is said 60 members of staff face redundancies between THQ's US Rainbow studio and the UK Juice Game's studio.^[8]

In August 2010, THQ unveiled the uDraw GameTablet, a $70 accessory for Nintendo's Wii console that lets gamers draw and play on their television screens. The white, 9-by-7-inch peripheral houses a Wii Remote on the left, with a doodle pad and tethered stylus on the right.

THQ says more software for the uDraw will launch every couple of months.http://www.worldofudraw.com/#/home.^[9]

On December 31, 2010, THQ closed their Korean office and canceled the development project of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw Online.^[10]

On January 2011, THQ sold off their Wireless division to a Swedish mobile company called 24MAS.

On January 12, 2011, THQ unveiled their new logo.^[11]

In March 2011, THQ, after their game Homefront was released, suffered a 26% stock drop. The large drop was speculated to be a result of Homefront's poor reception.^[12]

On June 13, 2011, THQ announced the closure of Kaos Studios (the developer of Homefront)^[13] and THQ Digital Warrington (formerly Juice Games).^[14]

On June 27, 2011, THQ announced they are dropping the long running Red Faction franchise. This was believed to be due to the poor reception over the latest game in the franchise, Red Faction Armageddon.^[15]

On August 9, 2011, THQ has announced that their development focus will move away from licensed kids and movie-based titles by closing down THQ Studio Australia and Blue Tongue in order to focus on "high-quality owned IP." The company has also closed down THQ Digital Phoenix (formerly Rainbow Studios), thus dropping the MX vs. ATV franchise.^[16][17][18]

Subsidiaries

Studios

• Relic Entertainment in Vancouver, BC, founded in May 1997, acquired in May 2004.
• THQ Studio San Diego in San Diego, California, acquired from Midway Games in August 2009.
• Vigil Games in Austin, Texas, founded in 2005, acquired in 2006.
• Volition in Champaign, Illinois, founded in November 1996, acquired in September 2000.
• THQ Studio Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, founded in October 2010 is THQ's first North American studio that was not acquired. It is also described to be THQ's largest studio hiring more than 500 employees.

Divisions

• External Development Group (XDG) was founded in 2006^[19] to streamline THQ's outsourcing initiatives. In 2008, the group opened a headquarters in Shanghai, China to transition from traditional business to business outsourcing methods to a form of distributed development.^[20][21]

Play THQ

Type	Children's division of THQ
Industry	Children's entertainment
Founded	2007
Headquarters	United States
Products	Cars Mater-National Nicktoons: Globs of Doom All Star Cheer Squad WALL-E Naked Brothers Band Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition
Parent	THQ Inc.
Website	www.PlayTHQ.com

• Play THQ is the family division of THQ, founded in 2007. Its first game was Cars Mater-National. Additional games published include licensed material such as SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom, WALL-E, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Into the Inferno, and original properties such as Lock's Quest. Play THQ is best known for publishing Disney/Pixar and Nickelodeon games.
• Slingdot
• THQ Wireless
• ValuSoft in Minneapolis, MN, founded in 1997, acquired in 2002

Defunct

• Big Huge Games in Timonium, Maryland, founded in February 2000, acquired in January 2008, sold to 38 Studios in May 2009.
• Concrete Games in Carlsbad, California, founded in 2004, closed January 2008.
• Heavy Iron Studios in Los Angeles, California, founded in 1999, spun off in March 2009.
• Helixe in Burlington, Massachusetts, founded in July 2000, closed November 2008.
• Incinerator Studios in Carlsbad, California, founded in 2005, spun off in March 2009.
• Locomotive Games in Santa Clara, California, founded as DT Productions in 1997, then Pacific Coast Power and Light, acquired in 1999, closed November 2010.
• Mass Media in California, founded in the late 1980s, acquired in 2007, closed November 2008.
• Outrage Games in Ann Arbor, MI, founded as Outrage Entertainment in December 1997, acquired April 4, 2002, closed in 2004.^[22]
• Paradigm Entertainment in Addison, Texas, founded in 1998, acquired from Atari in May 2006, closed November 2008.
• Sandblast Games in Kirkland, Washington, founded in August 2002 as Cranky Pants Games, closed November 2008.
• Universomo in Tampere, Finland, founded in 2002, acquired in May 2007, closed March 2, 2010.^[23]
• Kaos Studios in New York, NY, started in 2006. Closed June 13, 2011.
• THQ Digital Warrington in United Kingdom, founded as Juice Games in 2003, acquired in 2006, Closed June 13, 2011.^[24]
• Blue Tongue in Melbourne, Australia, founded in 1995, acquired in November 2004, closed August 9, 2011.
• THQ Digital Phoenix in Arizona, founded as Rainbow Studios in 1996, acquired in 2001, closed August 9, 2011.
• THQ Studio Australia in Brisbane, Australia, started in January 2003, closed August 9, 2011.

Upcoming games

2011

• Saints Row: The Third (Xbox 360, , PlayStation 3, Windows,)
• Hugo Cabret (Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS,)
• WWE '12 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)

2012

• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III (Windows)^[25]
• UFC Undisputed 3 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
• Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online (Windows)
• Metro: Last Light (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows, Wii U)
• Darksiders II (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Windows)
• WWE Brawl (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii)

2013

• inSANE (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows)
• Devil's Third (PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360)

See also

• List of THQ games
• Category:THQ games

References

1. ^ http://investor.thq.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=96376&p=irol-faq
2. ^ THQ 2010 Annual Report
3. ^ THQ 2010 Annual Report
4. ^ THQ Announces Acquisition of Vigil Games
5. ^ THQ announce cheerleading game - 07/03/2008
6. ^ THQ reveals 'Significant Business Realignment' - 11/03/2008
7. ^ THQ To Obtain Midway’s San Diego Studio - 08/09/2009
8. ^ THQ Biggest Loser Works Out for Profit
9. ^ Marc Saltzman. "Saltzman: Katy Perry gets her Revenge". thestar. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/games/article/851814--saltzman-katy-perry-gets-her-revenge. 
10. ^ "THQ Withdraws from Korea". This Is Game. http://www.thisisgame.com/go/?p=2609. 
11. ^ http://www.thq.com/us/news/show/13677
12. ^ "THQ Stock Price Drops 26%". TheSixthAxis. http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/03/16/thq-stock-price-drops-26. 
13. ^ http://www.develop-online.net/news/38018/THQ-to-axe-Homefront-studio-Kaos
14. ^ http://www.develop-online.net/news/38017/THQ-to-cut-down-UK-studio
15. ^ Dutton, Fred. "THQ abandons Red Faction franchise". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-27-thq-abandons-red-faction-franchise. 
16. ^ David Hinkle. "THQ lets 200 go, shifts development focus away from kids and licensed titles". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/09/thq-fires-200-shifts-development-focus-away-from-kids-and-licen/. 
17. ^ Mark Serrels. "THQ Closes Blue Tongue And THQ Brisbane To Focus On ‘High-Quality Owned IP’". Kotaku Australia. http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/08/thq-closes-blue-tongue-and-thq-brisbane-to-focus-on-high-quality-owned-ip/. 
18. ^ Richard Mitchell. "THQ 'not to actively pursue further development' of MX vs ATV franchise". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/09/thq-not-to-actively-pursue-further-development-of-mx-vs-atv-fr/. 
19. ^ THQ Announces Formation of XDG - New Team to Streamline Development Outsourcing Needs
20. ^ Paul Hyman. "An Examination of Outsourcing: The Developer Angle". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3758/an_examination_of_outsourcing_the_.php?page=3. 
21. ^ Leigh Alexander. "THQ Adds China Office For Company Of Heroes Online, Local Partnerships". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19718. 
22. ^ http://www.mobygames.com/company/outrage-games
23. ^ James Lee. "THQ Closes Universomo". Edge. http://www.next-gen.biz/news/thq-closes-universomo. 
24. ^ Orland, Kyle. "THQ Shutters UK Studio, Homefront Developer Kaos". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/35190/THQ_Shutters_UK_Studio_Homefront_Developer_Kaos.php. 
25. ^ Robert Purchese. "THQ talks Dawn of War III, UFC 3". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-08-18-thq-talks-dawn-of-war-iii-ufc-3. 

External links

• Official website
• THQ profile on MobyGames