THQ buyers confirm their future intentions for studios, IP

Each of the companies that grabbed a slice of THQ at auction earlier this week has spoken out, confirming their purchases and teasing their intentions for the future. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court yesterday approved the sale of the majority of publisher THQ's assets, with Sega picking up Relic, Koch Media grabbing THQ's Volition studio and the Metro: Last Light IP, Crytek taking the Homefront IP, Take-Two Interactive buying Turtle Rock's Evolve, and Ubisoft taking the THQ Montreal studio and the South Park: The Stick of Truth IP. Ubisoft noted that the purchase of THQ Montreal came with "a new, yet-to-be announced IP in development at the studio", although it would not confirm to Gamasutra whether this refers to the studio's 1666 IP, the trademark for which was filed last year, the Underdog IP, which was unearthed as part of the auction proceedings, or something entirely different. The publisher also noted that the acquisitions will not affect either the release schedule for the South Park game, which is due out later this year, or Ubisoft's current fiscal year. Meanwhile, Sega said that its purchase of Relic Entertainment will further reinforce its PC game development efforts, and Koch noted that it plans to roll out future plans for both the Metro and Saints Row in the coming months. And Crytek stated that work will continue as normal on Homefront 2 at the company's Nottingham, UK studio. "Nothing has changed with regards our development of the game," said Nick Button-Brown, Crytek GM.