Ubisoft’s CEO speaks on THQ’s dire financials, and the possibility of IP acquisition
By Jess Colwill on November 14, 2012 at 4:58 pm
It’s no secret THQ are in serious financial trouble. In case you haven’t been following, here’s a quick recap: first poor financials meant they had to delay some of their top upcoming titles, games they hoped would be their saviour; then following that news, their share price plummeted. Finally, it was reported that they had defaulted on their $50 million line of credit with Wells Fargo.
All in all, not doing so hot. THQ are now, understandably, looking for new ways to inject an influx of cashy-money into their company. One way to get some quick cash would be to sell off some IP — a prospect that Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has said would interest his company. “They have good things,” he told GamesIndustry.biz as part of a larger interview. “We are always interested in good brands. For sure, it’s something we can consider, but I can’t tell you more.”
Speaking more generally of THQ’s hard times, Guillemot said that it was lamentable, but part of the nature of the beast.
“What happened to [THQ] is something that happens regularly when we have transition,” he said. “Some can make it, some decide to go in different direction. It happened with Atari and Midway and also Acclaim last generation. … It’s something that happens in this industry and that’s the way the industry consolidates.”
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
Ubisoft at E3: The Division revealed – a new title in a sea of sequels
Take a look at Ubisoft's foray into the MMORPG.
Interplay picks up Freespace rights for $7,500
If I had known that was an acceptable bid, I'd have bought the bloody thing
Bilson: “I do not know what happened after I left” – former THQ boss speaks
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are ca-all-ing, etc
You can use the following bbCode
[i], [b], [img], [quote], [url href="http://www.google.com/"]Google[/url]
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
facebook
twitter
google+
rss
And so the vultures circle…
Yup. I hope they don’t sell the Homeworld I.P. Relic/THQ should hang onto it and give us a true sequel! :)
Hope Ubisoft don’t screw over whatever they buy from THQ by sticking their DRM into new installments.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
I’d go on but I think i’ve made my point.
I’d be interested to see what IP’s they say are worth acquiring.
They were in talks with the bank to extend the loan (it’s not like they payoff the 50million right away anyway) so hopefully they can convince the bank to let them go to March and have CoH2/Metro: LL save them. They must have some serious cash issues now that the share price tanked (note: Share price affects NOTHING BESIDES THEIR ABILITY TO ISSUE NEW SHARES AND HOW MUCH IT DILUTES EXISTING SHAREHOLDERS’ OWNERSHIP) and no one would be willing to lend them money as a result.
Here’s to hoping they get out of this rut and don’t die as a result of that god awful tablet.
Did they fire the guy who forced them into doing the Tablet?
Ehh…
Better Ubisoft than EA.
exe3,
Oh my yes, he’s LONG gone. I’m surprised they didn’t sue the maniac.
Although company of heroes is rated highly it’s not really a console game so that would deter the typical investor in this age. War40k franchise is similarly restricted as a strategy game since Space Marine (aimed at consoles) didn’t do too well for whatever reason. I personally enjoyed it although the console match making system on PC ruined it for many. Not sure what else would be worth milking for consoles from an investor perspective. From PC perspective there are a lot of good selling points.
revx,
If all the previous titles did extremely well I don’t see why it being on PC would be relevant especially since RTS is still a successful genre that so far has failed to work on consoles.