THQ Teams Up With Book Publisher To Make New IPs

[vansau]

THQ Teams Up With Book Publisher To Make New IPs

THQ is joining forces with Random House Publishing to create new IPs and expand existing videogame franchises with "world bibles."

THQ and Random House Publishing (<a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_House_Publishing>one of the largest English language publishers in the world) have announced that they're joining forces to work on bringing new intellectual properties to several forms of media, including both books and videogames. The deal isn't really all that surprising, seeing as how the two groups have worked together in the past, but now it sounds like they'll be stuck with each other for quite some time.

At first glance, it sounds like the deal is based around expanding the shelf life of IPs by porting them to new markets, much like Random House did for the Homefront brand with the recently-released prequel novel, <a href=http://www.amazon.com/Homefront-Voice-Freedom-John-Milius/dp/0345527151/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1301935193&sr=8-5>Homefront: The Voice of Freedom. However, the release cites how THQ plans to use Random House to create "world bibles" for its upcoming properties:

In addition, THQ plans to increase Random House's involvement in the creation of world bibles for prospective THQ properties through the Random House Publishing Group's IP creation and development group, Random House Worlds.

What will be interesting to see is what universes the companies plan to expand. I'd imagine that Homefront will probably receive more franchise expansions, as well as Darksiders (a sequel is due out in 2013, and the universe is ripe for storytelling expansions), and the Warhammer 40,000 games ... Though that last series will undoubtedly feature Games Workshop's involvement, too. What other games do you think Random House might help THQ expand?

Source: <a href=http://investor.thq.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=96376&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1545482&highlight>THQ




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[Woodsey]

"What other games do you think Random House might help THQ expand?"

I dunno, the bigger question to me is why THQ of all people?

 

[Xanadu84]

Could be very good. Could be very, very bad. I'm intrigued, but not intrigued enough to pay for my curiosity.

 

[UnravThreads]

Warhammer 40k books are published by The Black Library, not by anyone else. That's gone for the Dawn of War books, and I don't see why it would change.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I'm pretty sure that THQ doesn't have the ability to actually instigate the creation of additional "world building" books in the Warhammer 40,000 setting, what with how they only license it from Games Workshop. I wouldn't be complaining if there were suddenly even more Warhammer 40,000 books getting released each month mind you, but it's not like there's really a shortage of them now, heh.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I dunno, the bigger question to me is why THQ of all people?

THQ actually seem to care about story, as bad as it may turn out in the end, they at least try.

OT: I think this is good ^_^ I love THQ games and hopefully this will really help flesh out the stories and backgrounds of upcoming sequels and make some truly interesting new IPs :3

 

[gigastar]

Somehow this one did think Homefront would have made a better book than it ever would have a videogame.

This one is not sure if anyone at THQ actually has any good ideas for new IP's, but its nice to know theyre going to try.

 

[Infernoshadow211]

"World bibles?" Is Bible Games coming back?

 

[Namewithheld]

A world bible is just a huge text that keeps all the details of the world set up, so that writers and designers and such can keep it all consistent.

If the bible says: "Character A works like this", then everyone knows that Character A works like thus.

As to what worlds to expand.

Hooooooooooooooooomeworld.

MORE HOMEWORLD!

MAKE A NEW HOMEWORLD GAME, DAMN IT!

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

My first thought is that this may finally kill Black Library, spewer of hundreds of shitty, tacky 40K books. Let's get some class!

Why is everyone so hung up on the idea of this being Warhammer 40k books...

The only time 40k is even mentioned is speculation from the OP.

Games Workshop are proud of their creations and they would definitely get involved with any literature...

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I don't see how THQ are going to get in on 40K books.

The Black Library has a huge catalogue of 40k property. I guess if they can squeze some money from sticking 'Dawn of War' in the title then kudos to them.

Oh God no. The Dawn of War books were fucking terrible. C.S Goto has a fetish for multilasers.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

My first thought is that this may finally kill Black Library, spewer of hundreds of shitty, tacky 40K books. Let's get some class!

Why is everyone so hung up on the idea of this being Warhammer 40k books...

The only time 40k is even mentioned is speculation from the OP.

Games Workshop are proud of their creations and they would definitely get involved with any literature...

I agree, and I'll continue on saying that calling Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts "Tacky" is really pushing plausibility.

 

[aashell13]

I don't know. I've read some videogame-to-book ports before, the one for ST:O, I forget the title, and a bunch of the Halo books, and they all came off as really average.

I guess I'm more interested in the reverse, taking an interesting book and making a game out of it. Sure, it'd be linear as all get out, no other way to do it, but that might not be such a bad thing.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I don't see how THQ are going to get in on 40K books.

The Black Library has a huge catalogue of 40k property. I guess if they can squeze some money from sticking 'Dawn of War' in the title then kudos to them.

Oh God no. The Dawn of War books were fucking terrible. C.S Goto has a fetish for multilasers.

hahah, didn't even realise they did DoW books.

Am currently loving Caiphas Cain, Gaunts Ghosts and the Heresy series.


..the heresy series which ends with a compolation of short stories.. FUCK YOU GW! I READ THE WHOLE FUCKING SERIES WAITING FOR THE FINAL STORMING OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE AND THE FIGHT BETWEEN HORUS AND THE EMPOROR AND YOU FUCKING END WITH A SHITTY SHORT STORIES COLLECTION! FUUUUUUUUUCCK YOUUUUUUUU!!!

...as you can tell I'm not in favor of how they're planning on ending the horus Heresy series, but its still been a damn good read.

If they don't put Ollanius Pious back in the final confrontation, I'll be pissed. That dude was the biggest bamf in all of 40k.

 

[Blueruler182]

So a book company is going to help a game company create expansive worlds for new IP. I'm ok with that.