THQ Needs Help With Warhammer MMO

[Andy Chalk]

THQ Needs Help With Warhammer MMO

The ongoing trouble at THQ means the studio can no longer afford to launch the Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium MMO without outside help.

THQ revealed its third-quarter financial results for the 2012 fiscal year yesterday and as expected, the news is bad. The company suffered a net loss of roughly $56 million for the three months ending December 31, 2011, compared to a $15 million loss over the same period in 2010. THQ said that uDraw GameTablet [http://www.amazon.com/Saints-Row-Third-Xbox-360/dp/B004QEV0MI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328291794&sr=8-1] and related software, and other titles in the kids, family and casual category were far weaker than anticipated, substantially reducing our financial results for the quarter."

CEO Brian Farrell said THQ has a "strong multi-year pipeline of games" in the works, although most of it, aside from Darksiders 2 [http://www.amazon.com/UFC-Undisputed-3-Playstation/dp/B0053BSOD6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328291859&sr=8-1], isn't slated to arrive until the end of the 2012 or early 2013. The Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online MMO, however, which was originally slated to land in 2013 has now been pushed back into an ill-defined "fiscal 2014 and beyond."

The reason, Farrell explained in a conference call to investors, is simply that the company can no longer afford to get the project off the ground without help. "While the game in development promises to be a high-quality consumer offering, because of the large financial commitment and associated risks, we are being realistic about our resources and we are actively seeking a partner for this compelling MMO," he said. "We will keep you updated on our progress."

MMOs are an expensive business and Dark Millennium is certainly no exception. In March 2011, THQ CFO Paul Pucino said the game would cost around $50 million to get to market.

Source: GamesIndustry [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-02-03-thq-needs-partner-to-bring-warhammer-mmo-to-market]



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[Waaghpowa]

NOOO I wanted to play this WH40K mmo! We must save it...........
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FOR THE EMPURAH!

But seriously, what company would have the resources to simply pick this up? I doubt EA seeing as they sunk ~half a billion in Star Wars. Maybe Valve BEST MMO EVER.

 

[Loop Stricken]

NOOO I wanted to play this WH40K mmo! We must save it...........
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...
....
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FOR THE EMPURAH!

But seriously, what company would have the resources to simply pick this up? I doubt EA seeing as they sunk ~half a billion in Star Wars. Maybe Valve BEST MMO EVER.

Especially when they bring in all the crazy hats.

No, this is aggravating news. I was quite looking forward to a 40k MMO, and hoping it wouldn't suck. But now, this shitty uDraw nonsense has taken it away from me and I can't even muster the energy to throw a tantrum like a petulant child.

All I can do is sigh in a passive-aggressive tone.

 

[Versuvius]

But butbutbutbut...Dark Millenium...i wanted to play a Techpriest D:

 

[Therumancer]

Not surprising actually, the big question is how long they hold the rights for. Personally I think with their problems the rights should probably revert to Games Workshop, who should probably look towards finding another developer (or waiting for one to approach them).

To be honest 50 million for an MMO, especially this one, doesn't impress me. That's a lot of money, but not to launch an MMO in this market with a decent quality and enough content to have a serious chance of being something special in the long term.

Personally I think these rights should only go to a developer/publisher able to put at least 100 mil behind it, and carry a 2 year development timer on the rights to ensure they actually work on the game, as opposed to sitting around and goofing off while living off the development budget. I think a big problem with 99% of the games out there, MMO and otherwise, is EXACTLY that, we see so many buggy messes because when a final date approaches beyond which there can be no further delays, everyone is forced into crunch mode, to do years worth of work in a few months. Wives and family members used to workers with a lot of leisure time (due to you know... not actually working) then famously freak out when they are seeing 18 hour work days for months on end, driven by desperation.

 

[Meight08]

NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why does the universe hate me so much!?
I was waiting since the announcement i just hope relic gets bought by a good publisher.

 

[Meight08]

Not surprising actually, the big question is how long they hold the rights for. Personally I think with their problems the rights should probably revert to Games Workshop, who should probably look towards finding another developer (or waiting for one to approach them).

To be honest 50 million for an MMO, especially this one, doesn't impress me. That's a lot of money, but not to launch an MMO in this market with a decent quality and enough content to have a serious chance of being something special in the long term.

Personally I think these rights should only go to a developer/publisher able to put at least 100 mil behind it, and carry a 2 year development timer on the rights to ensure they actually work on the game, as opposed to sitting around and goofing off while living off the development budget. I think a big problem with 99% of the games out there, MMO and otherwise, is EXACTLY that, we see so many buggy messes because when a final date approaches beyond which there can be no further delays, everyone is forced into crunch mode, to do years worth of work in a few months. Wives and family members used to workers with a lot of leisure time (due to you know... not actually working) then famously freak out when they are seeing 18 hour work days for months on end, driven by desperation.

Thq just licensed the rights so they are safe if thq dies.
Their license dies and game workshop picks it up without a hassle.
But they know relic brought 40k to the mainstream so i expect GW to step in somewhere in the future.

 

[Lunar Templar]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo!!!!

i wanted to play this!!!

QUICK SOME ONE WIN A BUT LOAD OF MONEY AND DONATE IT!!!

For The Emperor!!

 

[Sandytimeman]

Hopefully this guy will go down as the worst CEO ever. He is seriously gunna ride one of the former greats of the industry into the ground by cattering to a casual gaming market that just wasnt here to stay.

 

[Monkeyman O'Brien]

I NEED THIS GAME TO SURVIVE!

But seriously, this is obviously gonna be a cash cow so just suck it up and plow on good sers.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

THQ is tanking fast. Dear god I worry for Relic.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

the game would cost around $50 million to get to market.

Can I suggest that's possibly where the problem starts?

When you are spending just under a fifth of the budget of the LotR trilogy ($281 mil), you're treading a massive tightrope.

EA (who know a lot more about fleecing) estimate that SW:ToR only needs half a million subscribers. And it cost $200 million to make.

That's six years work by 800 developers.

I did a little research

Everquest 2: $20 million
Aion: $18 million
Eternal Earth/Puzzle Pirates: Less than $1 million.

For nearly 3 times Aion - you'd better be offering Eldar, Marines, Necrons, Chaos, Tyranids and Squats off the bat.

And Squats don't even officially exist.

 

[Jodah]

First I want to say I would love to have this game come out. I may even sacrifice my left testicle for it.

The problem I foresee, however, is that it won't have the brand recognition to thrive as SWTOR has (at least so far.) Yes there are many 40k fans out there, particularly across the pond, but I don't think it is as big as Star Wars. I would hate to have this come out, fail spectacularly, and set back Warhammer games by 10 years because everyone becomes to afraid to make a new one.

 

[Nouw]

I'm not actually too keen on Dark Millenium, not after what happened to WAR. I'd much rather want a Dawn of War 3. Maybe it's time to play it safe THQ. I'm sure many of us are waiting for the inevitable sequels to Relic's games.