Various reports are emerging today that THQ has sharpened its battle axe and promptly swung ... at itself.
Stuntman: Ignition developer Paradigm Entertainment has been closed, reports
Gamasutra, and Juice Games has been dealt a crushing blow, losing a third of its staff, according to
Develop. Additionally, amidst
sinking share value and ongoing
internal woes, THQ is poised to make further cuts this week. In fact, a peek at THQ's
studio listing reveals the company is --
quite suddenly -- down to 11 studios (compare this to the soon-to-be-updated
Wikipedia page, which lists 16 teams). Missing and presumed dead are: Helixe Games, Locomotive Games, Mass Media, Sandblast Games, and aforementioned Paradigm.
Tune in Wednesday when the troubled publisher releases its quarterly financial report -- and bring a splatter guard. There will be blood.
Source - Juice Games to lay off a third of workforce [Develop]
Source - THQ Closes Paradigm Entertainment [Gamasutra]
Source - Studio System [THQ]
{ Nov 3rd 2008 at 3:29PM } 
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kizzeo @ Nov 3rd 2008 3:34PM
TH-who?
I'm sorry but THQ havn't outputted anything memorable in recent times, this is no surprise.
Jakka @ Nov 3rd 2008 4:04PM
My last list I wrote about a month ago got deleted as I put "fuck" in between then name of every single good game published by THQ, so I'm not even gonna bother lisitng them all out.
You're wrong, basically.
jackal @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:26PM
Kizzeo,
You've evidently been living under a rock, then. That, or my copies of Supreme Commander and Forged Alliance are lying to me since both are heralded as some of the most epic RTSs of all time.
Shagittarius @ Nov 3rd 2008 3:36PM
Without trying to sound like a hater, I'm seriously surprised they lasted this long.
A company based mostly around B and C titles with small budgets can usually survive for a while but they way they bought up all those other studios I don't know how they managed that...
Perhaps someone can drop some knowledge on this...
PowerLlama @ Nov 3rd 2008 3:39PM
Mass Media is in fact gone. A friend of mine there came in today and found out he had to clean out his cube.
Catsith @ Nov 3rd 2008 3:47PM
Locomotive Games is confirmed gone as well... I have a cousin who got his notice of studio closure this morning as well...
Cassidy @ Nov 3rd 2008 4:04PM
my mom was laid off with no warning this morning from mass media and they pretty much were unexpectedly shut down today by thq. to be honest they made pretty shitty games (bible adventures, various odd pac-man incarnations) but they did port starcraft to n64 and there were a lot of good people that worked there that are now out of a job. (including my mom!)
Cadius @ Nov 3rd 2008 4:41PM
No surprise here. I just hope relic doesn't disappear when THQ does finally die. Its the only good studio left there. (And they're a damn good studio, too)
Mr Khan @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:27PM
So long as they don't get destroyed before the neat-looking Deadly Creatures, i don't particularly care
pickassoreborn @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:29PM
It's nice that you obviously enjoy seeing studios and the livelihoods of developers suffer. I hope they survive because it's never good for developers to hit the wall, but it seems like the people who comment on this page bay for the blood of smaller devcos.
Hope you're satisfied.
Shagittarius @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:43PM
Then I whispered, "Not even you can hide.
You see, you're just like me,
I hope you're satisfied."
Moptimus Slime @ Nov 3rd 2008 8:06PM
Blue Tongue? Oh dear lord please save Blue Tongue . I swear, if they're gone before de Blob 2 arrives, I will break every THQ game on the shelves of any local store I wander into
kingrock @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:49PM
Ah, man, this is pretty much the end of the road for my dream of Paradigm making another racer as cool as Beetle Adventure Racing (it was pretty sweet for it's time).