THQ to announce 170 layoffs today - report

By Robert Purchese Published 1 February, 2012

What will the game collateral be?

A troubled THQ will imminently announce 170 layoffs, according to a new report.

Independent industry suit Kevin Dent claimed to have been sitting on the news "for a week or so". His Twitter conversation with THQ's vice president of technology Mark DeLoura suggests this is for real.

"This is probably going to break in the morning, I have sat on it for a week or so. The culling at THQ was 170+ souls including Mark DeLoura," broadcast Kevin Dent, directing the message at DeLoura.

"A smart journalist would send THQ's VP of Tech Mark DeLoura an email and see what the auto reply says," Dent later wrote.

"Hey, that's cheating," DeLoura replied, smiley in tow.

Things aren't looking pretty for THQ, the publisher that was yesterday threatened with a Nasdaq stock exchange delisting if share prices didn't rise above $1 in 10 days.

Kevin Dent blew the whistle on THQ earlier this month, when he claimed that the publisher's line-up of faraway 2014 titles and beyond had been canned. MMO Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online was rumoured to be on sale.

THQ was all denials, and later put out a statement recommitting to developing new games within several core IPs.

Can there really be all this smoke without fire?

Saints Row: The Third threw THQ a lifeline.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 3 weeks ago

  • rudedudejude #1 3 weeks ago

    Just don't drop the Saints Row stuff, hell if anything invest more in it!

  • BEXANT #2 3 weeks ago

    Come on THQ, most of your output is less than exemplary but you have the ability to publish some real corkers, just be a bit more selective with your quality.

    I can't name the number of times that I have seen a game that's finish just isn't quite to the quality of other publishers and knew without looking that it was THQ.

    Quality control and quality titles is the only way they can survive.

    Otherwise, Saints Row 4 published by Rockstar or EA!

  • MattEdWithCheese #3 3 weeks ago

    less content on disc more paid dlc guys, that's what sells...

  • RevanNL #4 3 weeks ago

    @BEXANT You don't want EA to publish Saints Row 4, we'll get half a game and the other half will be DLC, packed in as coupons when you buy a pack of Saints Row condoms or something

  • Gearskin #5 3 weeks ago

    Considering THQ has some good stuff being published this year, smart money might be on buying shares.

    I do wish Twitter would stop being used as a source for news though. It's different when the tweets contain links to articles based on the actual news, but right now it feels like pieces are being written off the back of Chinese whispers.

  • Inmediasress #6 3 weeks ago

    @gotyourmoney
    I think the declining world economy can also be attributed to the pirates.
    Hell even the fukushima incident and the tsunamies and also the end of the world in 2012.
    Johnny Depp has a lot to answer for.

  • -cerberus- #7 3 weeks ago

    @gotyourmoney: I blame hiphop.

  • bad09 #8 3 weeks ago

    Shame what's happening to them but to be honest these days if it wasn't for Metro I'd really not notice if they did go away. They seem to be a good publisher (apart from DLC whoring but that's just the norm for all of 'em now) and a few good games I've played over the years had their logo pop up.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/12 @ 10:22

  • Darren #9 3 weeks ago

    Very sad news for all those involved. I hope this doesn't affect the release of Darksiders II in the summer.

  • jetsetwillie #10 3 weeks ago

    why oh why dont these companies realise the answer to ALL of their problem lay with the posters on internet forums.

    all they need to do is log on to a popular gaming site and ask the clever dicks that are so keen to point out what they did wrong and what they need to do to put things right.

    why do they not understand this.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/12 @ 10:32

  • Lemming81 #11 3 weeks ago

    Here's your 'fire':

    http://forum.preys-world.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=28884

    Explains alot about THQ's practices, tbh.

  • Xboxfanuk #12 3 weeks ago

    Quality over quantity is the solution here. Darksiders II, Saints Row the Fourth and forget homefront, unless you can get the new leader of north korea to endorse it (that would be an epic PR stunt).

  • Skyclad #13 3 weeks ago

    Be calm, they would be incredibly dumb to drop either Saints Row, Darksiders, or the WWE and UFC games.

    @RevanNL
    Is there any difference in EA's approach from what we've seen in SR3?

  • thewool #14 3 weeks ago

    Any chance we'll still see that 'Sphinx & the Cursed Mummy' sequel? :0/

  • crisotunity #15 3 weeks ago

    Lemming81
    This uBoard thing sounds like a management-created nightmare! I suppose, the company big-wigs are highly motivated to bullshit and hang around for as long as possible: another year, another million plus change in their bank account. In the meantime, staff who rely on company shares for a decent top up to their half-decent salaries get screwed mercilessly.

    Is this what "John Lewis economy" is all about?

  • RevanNL #16 3 weeks ago

    @Skyclad Well, I didn't feel like there was content cut or missing from SR3. EA's strategy is to cut as much as possible out of a game, to either frustrate second hand buyers or trying to take advantage of the fanbase of a franchise (Mass Effect)

  • arcam #17 3 weeks ago

    I would certainly notice if they went away!

    Last Light, South Park RPG, Insane, Dawn of War 3 and Company of Heroes 2 - I'm looking at buying all these games, and from that list it seems I'm interested in more games from THQ than any other publisher!

  • DrStrangelove #18 3 weeks ago

    It's kinda sad... here's a publisher that was once known for shovelware (at least that's what I remember from the SNES days), later came up with some good and even great games/franchises like Company of Heroes, then tried to rise up to the rank of a Triple-A publisher, but then apparently failed at this near-impossible task.

    It's sad because it shows how there doesn't seem to change anything about the AAA publisher landscape (Acti can release whatever they want under the CoD name and they're sure to break sales records each time), and because THQ had a small underdog sympathy bonus in my book.

    I even forgave them for making Road Riot 4WD, probably my worst SNES game.

  • Lancezh #19 3 weeks ago

    Sad news for the gaming industry. Its not easy to lead a business, although we obviously all know better.
    I always loved THQ for what they spit out. Don't let CoH and their successors die, the rest i dont care :p

  • green_nifta #20 3 weeks ago

    LOLs from Jetsetwillie "why oh why dont these companies realise the answer to ALL of their problem lay with the posters on internet forums." :D

  • Madder-Max #21 3 weeks ago

    quality of DLC for sr3 is shit.

    Investing in a season/dlc pass looks like even more of a stupid thing to do now.

  • GuyNoir #22 3 weeks ago

    "For those who seek perfection there can be no rest on this side of the grave."

    "If a jobīs worth doing itīs worth dying for."

    "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment"

    "A broad mind lacks focus."

    "The loyal slave learns to love the lash."

    "Purge the unclean."

    Just saying like :-)

  • wattsn26 #23 3 weeks ago

    If they fire the Metro: Last Light people........:mad:

  • Zaiz #24 3 weeks ago

    I hope they didn't shaft Relic, since they are an "internal" studio, aren't they?

  • XBoxDragon #25 3 weeks ago

    The above $1 in 10 days is a bit wrong, it's above $1 for 10 consecutive days, within the next 180 days.