THQ Opens New Austin Studio For Darksiders Dev Vigil Games

Darksiders developer Vigil Games is getting a big new home in Austin, as publisher THQ signs a lease for a 33,000 square-foot space in the Four Points Centre. A THQ spokesperson confirmed the news to Gamasutra after a report from consumer weblog Kotaku first uncovered the plans. In addition to the action combat title Darksiders, which launches on Xbox 360 and PlayStation in January 2010, the Vigil team is working on an MMO based on the Warhammer 40,000 universe -- separate from Relic Entertainment's action RPG Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. When the Warhammer 40K MMO launches, in THQ's 2012 fiscal year, it will likely create the unique situation of two simultaneous Warhammer-related MMOs from two separate publishers, since Electronic Arts and Mythic currently operate the Warhammer Online MMO. "We are very excited about the strong development talent at Vigil Games and we view Austin as a great location to attract employees engaged in video game development," says THQ.