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View Full Version : THQ's new boss outlines the company's path to financial salvation [Joystiq]



DP ServBot
06-05-2012, 03:40 PM
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"For me, this is about the future," newly appointed THQ president Jason Rubin told investors during a conference call this morning. Rubin was outlining his plan for the future of THQ - a plan he hopes will take THQ from an ailing company on the fringe of the publishing world to previously untapped financial greatness. "The industry is about to change. If you look at what's happened in the PC business, if you look at what's happened in some of the other businesses out there, you see that print models and different ways of distributing and publishing games has opened up a significant amount of revenue for other companies," Rubin said.

Rubin's message - wherein he partially blamed THQ's financial issues on "big incumbent players" who have a "huge advantage in keeping their top spots," such as EA and Activision - seems particularly strange considering THQ CEO Brian Farrell's repeated assertion that the publisher is focused on "core brands" such as Darksiders and Saints Row. As recently as last week, THQ was espousing its "core games" focus. "THQ realigns its focus from a maker of licensed games for broad audiences to a developer of AAA 'Core' games for multiple platforms," the press release announcing Rubin's appointment reads.

"Companies in a very short amount of time can go from very small to very large. Zynga's a perfect example of that," Rubin said. "I believe that this business has opportunities that are coming on the near horizon to do something very similar. And I think that the teams that we have are properly positioned and properly sized to take advantage of that opportunity." Rubin further explained his hopes for those business opportunities. "This is about looking at what THQ has, looking at what the business is gonna become in the near future, and making a real concerted attack to get in early on the new business model." What that business model will be remains to be seen. We'll be sure to put that question to Rubin when we speak with him later this week.http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.joystiq.com)THQ's new boss outlines the company's path to financial salvation (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/05/thqs-new-boss-outlines-the-companys-path-to-financial-salvatio/) originally appeared on Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com) on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).

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The 1 2 P
06-05-2012, 06:48 PM
While I hope the best for THQ I still don't see them surviving more than a couple more years. They just don't have enough hit titles to stay above water in this very tough market anymore.

kupomogli
06-05-2012, 10:24 PM
I wonder if this means EA's MMA will be back up or not? I knew that Dana White was pissed off when EA told him that UFC is not a sport, maybe they'll go back to EA and it'll be EA Sports MMA Featuring UFC since UFC bought Strikeforce.

I finally played the full game of Darksiders, and the demo definitely does not do the game justice. The demo was the most boring part of the game. The game itself was actually really enjoyable. With Darksiders 2 being like the original game and slightly loot drop like with skill trees, it's one game that I'm interested in them releasing.

Then finally there's WWE. Last WWE game I've played was Smackdown vs Raw 2010 and it was decent, but just wasn't really fun in comparison to the older games. I've heard that WWE 2012 is the best game since Here Comes the Pain. WWE 13 is going to allow you to break the ring like Brock and Big Show did, and hopefully it's also a fun game and not just "oo wow, ring can break." Hopefully a good developer gets the WWE license if THQ goes down.

Trumpman
06-05-2012, 11:46 PM
I really liked Darksiders (although the first hour sucks, Kupo was right about that) but I absolutely loved Company of Heroes. It's my favorite RTS of all time, and nothing even comes close to it in my opinion. I am super stoked for Company of Heroes 2 (just announced) and really hope that THQ can survive long enough to allow Relic to make it happen with the respect it deserves.

DigitalSpace
06-06-2012, 05:53 AM
This is what happens when you spend years following Acclaim's business model.

brykasch
06-06-2012, 09:05 AM
I wonder if this means EA's MMA will be back up or not? I knew that Dana White was pissed off when EA told him that UFC is not a sport, maybe they'll go back to EA and it'll be EA Sports MMA Featuring UFC since UFC bought Strikeforce.

I finally played the full game of Darksiders, and the demo definitely does not do the game justice. The demo was the most boring part of the game. The game itself was actually really enjoyable. With Darksiders 2 being like the original game and slightly loot drop like with skill trees, it's one game that I'm interested in them releasing.

Then finally there's WWE. Last WWE game I've played was Smackdown vs Raw 2010 and it was decent, but just wasn't really fun in comparison to the older games. I've heard that WWE 2012 is the best game since Here Comes the Pain. WWE 13 is going to allow you to break the ring like Brock and Big Show did, and hopefully it's also a fun game and not just "oo wow, ring can break." Hopefully a good developer gets the WWE license if THQ goes down.

mma is dead, ea has ufc now

Rob2600
06-06-2012, 10:52 AM
I'll never forgive THQ for Pit-Fighter on the SNES. 14-year-old me wasted my only $60 on that unplayable pile of manure. I hope the company goes bankrupt and the programmers burn in Hell.

kupomogli
06-06-2012, 03:21 PM
mma is dead, ea has ufc now

You mean THQ has UFC. I'm saying if THQ goes down, will Dana White make another offer with EA.

*edit*

I'm wrong on this post from replies below. Didn't know they bought the rights.

The 1 2 P
06-06-2012, 07:12 PM
You mean THQ has UFC. I'm saying if THQ goes down, will Dana White make another offer with EA.

THQ no longer have the UFC license. That was the big announcement at EA's press conference(and it was a really big surprise if you have been following the drama between Dana White and EA over the past few years). EA bought the license from THQ for an unspecified amount of money. All future UFC games will be published by EA and there will be no more EA Sports MMA. All the Strikeforce fighters will now be a part of the UFC games just as the Pride fighters were part of this years UFC release. THQ will presummably continue to support their current/last UFC game until early next year.

kupomogli
06-06-2012, 07:35 PM
^I didn't know that they announced that. Didn't watch the EA conference.

Spidey80
06-06-2012, 10:05 PM
I wonder if this means EA's MMA will be back up or not? I knew that Dana White was pissed off when EA told him that UFC is not a sport, maybe they'll go back to EA and it'll be EA Sports MMA Featuring UFC since UFC bought Strikeforce.

I finally played the full game of Darksiders, and the demo definitely does not do the game justice. The demo was the most boring part of the game. The game itself was actually really enjoyable. With Darksiders 2 being like the original game and slightly loot drop like with skill trees, it's one game that I'm interested in them releasing.

Then finally there's WWE. Last WWE game I've played was Smackdown vs Raw 2010 and it was decent, but just wasn't really fun in comparison to the older games. I've heard that WWE 2012 is the best game since Here Comes the Pain. WWE 13 is going to allow you to break the ring like Brock and Big Show did, and hopefully it's also a fun game and not just "oo wow, ring can break." Hopefully a good developer gets the WWE license if THQ goes down.

WWE`12 is a rather solid game.It has some flaws but it is a blast to play.

As for the post about Pit-Fighter,it was just a bad game to begin with.I never played the SNES version,but the Genesis version(which was published by Tengen)was terrible,IMO.

Cryomancer
06-06-2012, 11:07 PM
I don't really care if THQ burns as long as Volition somehow survives with minimal to no damage and gets a nice deal with someone else.

lazyhoboguy
06-07-2012, 09:06 AM
I don't really care if THQ burns as long as Volition somehow survives with minimal to no damage and gets a nice deal with someone else.

How I feel.

The 1 2 P
06-07-2012, 04:18 PM
When THQ goes down someone will buy the Saints Row franchise for sure but theres no guarantee they will keep Volition. But if they were smart they'd try to acquire them both.

Spidey80
06-07-2012, 06:53 PM
Even though it`s unlikely,I do hope THQ can get back on its feet.I feel the same way for Sega as well...although I think they might have better luck than THQ of rebounding.

I hate seeing companies go under,the main reason being I hate to see people lose their jobs.