Sega Sues Bankrupt THQ Claiming $941,000

[Karloff]

Sega Sues Bankrupt THQ Claiming $941,000

Company of Heroes 2 preorder cash has Sega frothing at the metaphorical mouth.

Company of Heroes 2 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/trailers/7597-Company-of-Heroes-2-Launch-Trailer] launched and handled its preorder via Steam, and publisher Sega naturally expects to see some of that preorder cash, after Valve takes its 30% cut of course. But THQ - or more accurately, THQ subsidiary Relic Entertainment - was the one handling that side of things, and THQ has all but evaporated. Sega still expects to see its money - all $941,000 of it - and that means filing a claim in bankruptcy court. Sega is claiming priority on over half a million of that total, since that sum was paid by Valve to THQ after 19th December 2012, the day that THQ filed for bankruptcy protection.

Sega has since bought Relic, in the claim [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121692-Bankruptcy-Court-Approves-THQ-Sale] is intended to protect it against "any forfeiture of rights it may have." Ideally Sega would like to get paid before the other creditors, who collectively have lodged claims for more than $200 million.

Fun fact: Company of Heroes 2 preorders, from September 2012 to 24th January 2013, numbered 20,755, for a total of $1,345,301.29. Just goes to show how big a chunk of the business model preorder sales have become.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-07-10-sega-sues-bankrupt-thq-for-630k-over-company-of-heroes-2-pre-orders]


Permalink

 

[josemlopes]

Well, wasnt THQ the one that probably wasted the most money into funding the game?

Meh, all this publishers thing is just annoying, why wasnt all this stuff discussed during the asset sale instead of later on coming back and knifing the dead guy in the back again

 

[-Dragmire-]

So Sega and THQ had a publishing deal. Relic under THQ got pre-order money. THQ dissolved and Relic got bought by Sega. Sega is now suing Relic, the company it paid for and now owns, for the pre-oreder money... Am I getting that right?

Or are they suing the nonexistant THQ for it?

Or is filing a claim with the bankruptcy court different than suing in this context?

Laws is the confusings head wreakerses brain meltering...

They are throwing their lot in with the non existent THQ. The profits from the THQ sales are used to settle past debts.

So basically SEGA is suing to get some money from the total amount of money paid for THQ's assets.

It is not suing it's now owned studio Relic for money.

Ah, that makes more sense, thanks!

 

[1337mokro]

So Sega and THQ had a publishing deal. Relic under THQ got pre-order money. THQ dissolved and Relic got bought by Sega. Sega is now suing Relic, the company it paid for and now owns, for the pre-oreder money... Am I getting that right?

Or are they suing the nonexistant THQ for it?

Or is filing a claim with the bankruptcy court different than suing in this context?

Laws is the confusings head wreakerses brain meltering...

They are throwing their lot in with the non existent THQ. Basically when bankruptcy happens all of the remaining assets THQ had got sold. The profits from the THQ asset sales are used to settle past debts. Like employee wages, debtors, loans, etc. They are settled in a priority ranking and are often only given a percentage of the total amount of cash available so that the money gets spread around as much as possible.

So basically SEGA is suing to get some money from the total amount of money paid for THQ's assets by everyone, strangely enough also themselves. It is not suing it's now owned studio Relic for money.

If I had to compare it to anything it's like paying 5 bucks for a cookie from a guy that owes you 7 bucks so you take the cookie and 2 bucks extra from whatever he has left. Though the analogy fails a bit seeing as the cookie you bought was the reason why you were owed money in the first place as the IP cookie rights transferred to you and therefore you are now owed money made using the cookie before the date of sales and.... AAAUGGGHH copyright why u so f'd up!

 

[PunkRex]

... what?

No, seriously, what did you just say? SEGA is trying to sue a company that doesn't exsist anymore... how?

 

[karma9308]

You got your money Sega and want almost $60 for some fucking skins that only affect one or two vehicles in a certain type of weather. I haven't even gotten into the heavy game play affecting commanders dlc they have going.

 

[Covarr]

So basically SEGA is suing to get some money from the total amount of money paid for THQ's assets by everyone, strangely enough also themselves.

As I'm reading this, they are trying to get their paws on some of the profits from something they bought. They spent $26.6 Million on Relic, and if they get the full $941,000 they're asking for, that essentially works out to getting a nearly $1 Million discount on their purchase. That's actually really smart; nobody who isn't owed money by THQ could get as good a price on the purchase.

Does anybody know how many of the other companies that bought THQ properties were owed money by THQ? This could work out well for a lot of buyers, if they were smart enough to think of this.

P.S. Thanks

P.P.S. Edit

So they would just end-up getting their own money back again?

Nowhere near. This is more like a 3% off coupon, assuming they even get as much as they're asking for. Depending on how much THQ owes in total, and how much they get from all the sales, SEGA could still end up getting far, far less.

 

[1337mokro]

So basically SEGA is suing to get some money from the total amount of money paid for THQ's assets by everyone, strangely enough also themselves.

As I'm reading this, they are trying to get their paws on some of the profits from something they bought. They spent $26.6 Million on Relic, and if they get the full $941,000 they're asking for, that essentially works out to getting a nearly $1 Million discount on their purchase. That's actually really smart; nobody who isn't owed money by THQ could get as good a price on the purchase.

Does anybody know how many of the other companies that bought THQ properties were owed money by THQ? This could work out well for a lot of buyers, if they were smart enough to think of this.

P.S. Thanks

P.P.S. Edit

So they would just end-up getting their own money back again?

Nowhere near. This is more like a 3% off coupon, assuming they even get as much as they're asking for. Depending on how much THQ owes in total, and how much they get from all the sales, SEGA could still end up getting far, far less.

My comment of "strangely enough also themselves." was meant sarcastically. They are basically trying to get as much money as they can and as we all know discounts are awesome.

 

[Charli]

*shrug* Business as usual then, I wish I was more 'oh crap what shocking an horrible practices', but honestly this is the coke zero of juicy underhanded dealings, and I'd expect any business to take advantage of a glaring hole like this.


... Whatever. I suppose it's interesting but better a company who is still making games and isn't entirely mishandling it's finances get a chunk of what was squirreled away. Even if it is technically only a small fraction off the costs.


Captcha: Rice and Beans

... U ok captcha?

 

[TheProfessor234]

I'm just glad a game like Company of Heroes is doing well.

Or at least I think it's doing well, the last bit with numbers made it sound that way.

 

[RicoADF]

... what?

No, seriously, what did you just say? SEGA is trying to sue a company that doesn't exsist anymore... how?

It's via the debitors, basically Sega is saying that any sales made after THQ declared bankrupsy is owed to Sega as they bought the rights, which technically they have a point. Maybe not from the day it happened but to some degree perhaps yes. We shal see what happens, but even they aren't expecting all of it just what they can get.

 

[Starke]

... what?

No, seriously, what did you just say? SEGA is trying to sue a company that doesn't exsist anymore... how?

They're not.

Honestly, this is why bankruptcy law drives me insane. This is normal, rational, behavior during a bankruptcy. Not doing something like this will get you screwed over badly.

Ugh...

 

[Strazdas]

this is awesome strategy. buy something, claim that its not working liek you want, get a refund, but instaed of returning the item, keep it.
if only real world worked like that!

 

[Jamous]

WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WHAT SEGA OWNS RELIC WHAT
DOES THIS MEAN WE COULD SEE 40K Total War? Because I would pay for that. I would pay for that so hard.
OT: I'm afraid the legalese and actual workings of this matter has me completely baffled. I have literally no idea how any of this would work, seeing as how THQ essentially doesn't exist any more. Someone explain plz?