THQ Postmortem

[Jan 31, 2013, 8:59 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

MCV outlines what they call "the full story" of the collapse of THQ, the game publisher/developer that was just broken up due to bankruptcy. They hear from Jason Rubin, who served as president of the company during efforts to put it back on course, and he is frank in saying the made "massive mistakes," and that: "There are certainly things to be said about challenges in the mid-tier triple-A publishing business, but I don't think that conflating it with THQ's experience is helpful." Here's a bit of his take on what went wrong:

Unfortunately, the mistakes that were made long before I joined, like the incredible losses attached to uDraw, massive wasted capital in the unpublished MMO that was cancelled, sticking with children's and casual titles far after mobile and tablets had killed the business, bad, late, or otherwise inferior titles like Homefront, and a generally haphazard and inefficient approach to deal making, left the company with too much negative hanging on its books.

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14.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Feb 1, 2013, 00:31

Beelzebud

+1 for taking an honest assessment of their failures, and not going straight to blaming piracy.

13.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 23:27

nin

Frijoles wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 23:21:
nin wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 22:48:
zombiefan wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 22:35:
THQ :: Sarah Palin

Oh, please explain, I can't wait to hear this...

He cheers their death in every THQ thread, but never responds when asked why. I've come to expect it. Given his hate, I assume THQ did bad things to his loved ones.

You mean like real world testing of the Saint's Row 3 Dildo Bat?




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

12.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 23:21

Frijoles

nin wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 22:48: zombiefan wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 22:35: THQ :: Sarah Palin Oh, please explain, I can't wait to hear this... He cheers their death in every THQ thread, but never responds when asked why. I've come to expect it. Given his hate, I assume THQ did bad things to his loved ones.

11.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 22:56

killer_roach

Dev wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 22:51: killer_roach wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 22:03: I think EA hate is largely irrational (since I have no love lost for any of the major publishers), but the fact remains that there's a lot of mismanaged firms in the industry that continue soldiering on. I disagree. There's a LOT of stuff EA has done in the past, and continues to do, that makes them one of the worst. I think a lot of the EA hate is based on personal experience with them. Activision and Ubisoft say hi. The fact that everybody goes after EA seems to excuse these companies' egregious behavior.

10.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 22:51

Dev

killer_roach wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 22:03: I think EA hate is largely irrational (since I have no love lost for any of the major publishers), but the fact remains that there's a lot of mismanaged firms in the industry that continue soldiering on. I disagree. There's a LOT of stuff EA has done in the past, and continues to do, that makes them one of the worst. I think a lot of the EA hate is based on personal experience with them.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 22:50

netnerd85

Dev wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 21:36: Beamer wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 21:22: Yeah, I was saying that whenever people cheered THQ burning. I get EA hate. I myself have an extreme dislike for them. But I still don't get the THQ hate. Indeed, there is a lot of irrational hate on the net though.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 22:48

nin

zombiefan wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 22:35:
THQ :: Sarah Palin

Oh, please explain, I can't wait to hear this...




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 22:35

zombiefan

THQ :: Sarah Palin Just go away already. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 22:03

killer_roach

Dev wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 21:36: Beamer wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 21:22: Yeah, I was saying that whenever people cheered THQ burning. I get EA hate. I myself have an extreme dislike for them. But I still don't get the THQ hate. I think EA hate is largely irrational (since I have no love lost for any of the major publishers), but the fact remains that there's a lot of mismanaged firms in the industry that continue soldiering on. At least THQ, mismanagement aside, put out a handful of decent games and largely didn't insult the intelligence of their customers.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 22:02

Rhino

Dev wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 21:36: Beamer wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 21:22: Yeah, I was saying that whenever people cheered THQ burning. I get EA hate. I myself have an extreme dislike for them. But I still don't get the THQ hate. I get the impression that it has more to do with their franchises not necessarily being top of the line, along the same vein of the common thought that anything with a review score less than 80% is crap. I don't agree with this, of course. Certainly not the level of hate that is sometimes exhibited. Disinterest I could understand; but hate seems silly.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 21:36

Dev

Beamer wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 21:22: Yeah, I was saying that whenever people cheered THQ burning. I get EA hate. I myself have an extreme dislike for them. But I still don't get the THQ hate.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 21:22

Beamer

Yeah, I was saying that whenever people cheered THQ burning.

Rubin is a great guy. He would have done a great job fostering talent. Make him CEO and give him a bean-counting COO, one that can be the devil on his shoulder but can't make decisions over him, and you'd have a well run company putting out solid games.




------------- Music for the discerning: http://www.deathwishinc.com http://www.hydrahead.com http://www.painkillerrecords.com

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 21:21

Redmask

nin wrote on Jan 31, 2013, 20:08: It's a shame Rubin didn't get much of a chance to save things. He seems like a decent guy, and I think under better circumstances, he would have been great in the role. I agree, I think he would have done a great job, he seems like he really recognized the weaknesses and strengths of the business more than your average suit.

Re: THQ Postmortem

Jan 31, 2013, 20:08

nin

It's a shame Rubin didn't get much of a chance to save things. He seems like a decent guy, and I think under better circumstances, he would have been great in the role.




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

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