THQ fires 118 developers, shifts focus of Warhammer 40K MMO to single-player

[avalanch07]

WTF THQ?

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2...=related_right


This better be a fk'ing april fools from thq..

THQ fires 118 developers, shifts focus of Warhammer 40K MMO to single-player

By Andrew Groen | Published a day ago

[avalanch07]

http://investor.thq.com/phoenix.zhtm...267&highlight=

Notice the url. A subdomain from thq.com meaning this is coming from thq themselves.

THQ Announces Update for Warhammer® 40,000®: Dark Millennium™ Project Shifts from MMO Business Model
AGOURA HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 29, 2012-- THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) today announced that it has refocused Warhammer® 40,000®: Dark Millennium™ from a Massively Multiplayer Online game to an immersive single player and online multiplayer experience with robust digital content, and engaging community features. Further product details, platforms and release timing will be announced at a later date.
“As previously announced, we have been actively looking for a business partner for the game as an MMO. However, based on changing market dynamics and the additional investment required to complete the game as an MMO, we believe the right direction for us is to shift the title from an MMO to a premium experience with single and multiplayer gameplay, robust digital content and community features,” said Brian Farrell, President and CEO of THQ Inc. “Because we believe strongly in the high-quality and vast creative work that is in production, this is the right decision for both our portfolio and for gamers devoted to this powerful property.”
“We are genuinely excited about the new direction that THQ is taking with Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium, and we are sure that this will be a great addition to the ever growing stable of authentic and engaging Warhammer 40,000 video games,” said Jon Gillard, Head of Licensing for Games Workshop.
As a result of this change, team sizes at two THQ internal studios will be reduced by 79 full-time employees at Vigil Games in Austin, Texas, and 39 employees at Relic Entertainment in Vancouver, B.C.
Vigil Games will continue to focus on both this game and the critically-acclaimed new title, Darksiders® II, scheduled for release this summer. Relic Entertainment continues to focus its development expertise on THQ’s franchises including Company of Heroes® and Warhammer® 40,000®: Dawn of War®.
About THQ
THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, THQ sells product through its global network of offices located throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. More information about THQ and its products may be found at http://www.thq.com/. THQ and the THQ logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc.
Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Copyright © Games Workshop Limited 2004 - 2012. Dark Millennium, Dark Millennium Online, the Dark Millennium Online logo, Dawn of War, the Dawn of War logo, Dawn of War 2, the Dawn of War 2 logo, GW, Games Workshop, the Games Workshop logo, 40K, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer 40,000 Device, 40,000, the Double-headed Eagle device and all associated marks, logos, places, names, creatures, races and race insignia/devices/logos/symbols, vehicles, locations, weapons, units and unit insignia, characters, products, illustrations and images from the Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium game, the Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online game, the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War game, the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 game and the Warhammer 40,000 universe are either ®, TM and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2012, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world, and used under license. All Rights Reserved.
THQ Inc. Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the business of THQ Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “THQ”), including, but not limited to, expectations of video game console and software growth, financial guidance, estimated release dates and the potential for online gaming. These statements are based upon management’s current beliefs and certain assumptions made by management. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, business, competitive, economic, legal, political and technological factors affecting our industry, operations, markets, products or pricing. Readers should carefully review the risk factors and the information that could materially affect THQ’s financial results, described in other documents that THQ files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal period ended March 31, 2011 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and particularly the discussion of trends and risk factors set forth therein. Unless otherwise required by law, THQ disclaims any obligation to update its view on any such risks or uncertainties or to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id...cqr4&distro=nx
Source: THQ Inc.
THQ Corporate Communications
Angela Emery, 818/871-8650
or
THQ Investor Relations
Lisa Mueller, 818/871-5125

[scurvy138]

wtf so what now no more rts just mmo in development? sucks for all those people though :/....bet this is because of sony's new planetside 2 game coming out -_-

[Sifer2]

Originally Posted by scurvy138

wtf so what now no more rts just mmo in development? sucks for all those people though :/....bet this is because of sony's new planetside 2 game coming out -_-

I don't think its anything to do with Planetside 2. It's just that THQ in general is beginning to fail. They will probably go bankrupt or be bought out within the year.

Relic and Vigil studios have been gutted recently. A lot of them laid off. Almost every key developer who made Dawn of War 2 has been let go. Meaning we probably wont see any more patches or DLC. In fact we probably wont ever see a Dawn of War 3 either. It's sad times. We can only hope someone else decent gets the Warhammer game making rights.

[Jibberish]

Originally Posted by scurvy138

wtf so what now no more rts just mmo in development? sucks for all those people though :/....bet this is because of sony's new planetside 2 game coming out -_-

DM was never an RTS.

THQ is not Relic. Relic wasn't making DM.

PLanetside 2 has nothing to do with this game, developer, or publisher.

And honestly i'm probably more likely to buy DM now that it's not an MMO... sucks though, THQ certainly has a questionable business model.

[KnownUnknown]

I feel bad for the devs that got the axe, but I can't think of another video game company that deserves to go out of business more than THQ at the moment.

Instead of firing the people that make their games, maybe THQ should concentrate on their own house: get rid of the marketing geniuses and executives that thought nickel-and-diming the customer base for paltry DLC was a good idea. THQ seem to be blaming the state of the company on those poor developers, the same guys who are choked into unrealistic release dates and prohibited from showing any kind of honesty with the customers.

Screw THQ. They deserve bankruptcy.

[Boe-Os]

Its sad to see THQ heading this way, despite whether you love or dislike THQ practises, they hold some very good studios within their name and have created some very awesome games in the past.

It's sad to see DarkMillenium not make it as a MMO, I had always ALWAYS! looked forward to a 40k MMO, although when I say looked forward to a 40k MMO. However! what I actually mean by an MMO, I mean a unrealistic expectation of an MMO that could never do Gameworkshop or the 40k universe justice, not because its THQ, but merely because of what a joke MMO's have become now in the industry. So in that respect Im actually pleased to see DM be turned into a Singleplayer / Mulitplayer features rather than an MMO, because quite frankly without a doubt a MMO would of sucked.

[sonicstormer]

Meh, assuming they are bought, the new owners may decide to pick it back up as an MMO.... or drop it entirely. Either way, when a game has THIS much of a refocus mid development, that tells me all I'll need to know about the quality of the final product. Yay for unpolished shovel game.

[Sifer2]

Originally Posted by sonicstormer

Meh, assuming they are bought, the new owners may decide to pick it back up as an MMO.... or drop it entirely. Either way, when a game has THIS much of a refocus mid development, that tells me all I'll need to know about the quality of the final product. Yay for unpolished shovel game.

It's not always a bad thing. Sometimes a game can be scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up just using some the art assets of the previous design, and still be really great. But in this case I expect a bad game because they are firing their most talented developers.

[NanostrikeX]

Originally Posted by Sifer2

I don't think its anything to do with Planetside 2. It's just that THQ in general is beginning to fail. They will probably go bankrupt or be bought out within the year.

Relic and Vigil studios have been gutted recently. A lot of them laid off. Almost every key developer who made Dawn of War 2 has been let go. Meaning we probably wont see any more patches or DLC. In fact we probably wont ever see a Dawn of War 3 either. It's sad times. We can only hope someone else decent gets the Warhammer game making rights.

I dunno about going bankrupt, but there's no way in hell THQ could afford to maintain an MMO right now. So that's probably what prompted this.

Well...that and they wanna be able to dumb the game down and on consoles to squeeze every possible cent out of it. They're probably already seeing what stuff they can cut out of the game and sell as "New" DLC later.

[emp_can]

So happy they aren't making an MMO, so many games get ruined by becoming an MMO and the dawn of war series/space marine butchers Warhammer lore I was fearful for what was going to happen in DM.

[mafoster101]

They probably took a look at their game and realized that it would never compete in the mmo market right now. They obviously don't have the money to create an mmo on that kind of level. So they turn it into a single player. I may be alone in this boat but I love space marine and would totally take a number 2. I know its been clearly stated that they aren't making a space marine 2 but I would love it if they did.

[Havoc10K]

Originally Posted by KnownUnknown

I feel bad for the devs that got the axe, but I can't think of another video game company that deserves to go out of business more than THQ at the moment.

Instead of firing the people that make their games, maybe THQ should concentrate on their own house: get rid of the marketing geniuses and executives that thought nickel-and-diming the customer base for paltry DLC was a good idea. THQ seem to be blaming the state of the company on those poor developers, the same guys who are choked into unrealistic release dates and prohibited from showing any kind of honesty with the customers.

Screw THQ. They deserve bankruptcy.

I can name a few that deserve bankruptcy more than THQ, namely EA and Ubisoft, EA is interfering with games developers far too much for my liking. ubisoft is just sucky.

Personally I prefer DM to be Singleplayer with online multiplayer over MMO, it would plainly suck anyway and since it's going to be singleplayer now it will more likely get much deserved treatment, as an MMO it wouldn't work the way you think it would.

As for DLC for Dawn of War, well, their biggest mistake was what they did with retribution singleplayer campaign and allowing the Tau Commander to be so damn overpowered. i mean, come on! a lvl 10 tau commander can clear out up to 15 waves in TLS ALONE!

I can't wait when the hell they will nerf the damned thing, I have been mailing them about it for quite a while but no response.