THQ Closes San Diego Studio
Beleaguered publisher THQ has closed their San Diego studio, on the same day that EA announced that the rights to publish UFC-based games has transferred from THQ to EA. THQ has struggled over the last year to keep studios open, and with a looming stock market delisting date fast approaching, it’s looking to me that the company could be on its last legs. At this time, THQ has only 4 studios, compared to the 11 that it had just last year.
It’s a bit underhanded to me that THQ would wait until E3 to close a studio, but it makes perfect sense. With the huge amounts of news coming out of LA, who’s going to notice another studio closure by a company like THQ in the first place? THQ seems to be banking on that, in the hope that it might limit the damage to the stock share price.
The San Diego studio was in the middle of publishing a UFC game at the time of its closure. Since EA has taken over the franchise, those employees are now having to look for new jobs. THQ did release a statement saying that they are “working closely with those relevant staff to either find possible employment within the company, or potentially with EA.” Considering how EA recently laid off a bunch of employees recently, I don’t see that happening any time soon.
