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Relic Entertainment, Vigil Games, Volition and THQ Studio Montreal have each been given new titles to develop within the last 60 days “that represent the type of product we believe will make THQ successful in the future,” THQ has revealed.
The announcement suggests that Patrice Desilets’ game, which was in production at Studio Montreal, may have been sidelined for a new title.
The news came during THQ’s investor relations call last night (transcribed by Seeking Alpha), where president Jason Rubin said, “beyond our announced titles, in the last 60 days, all 4 of our internal studios began working on new titles that represent the type of product we believe will make THQ successful in the future.
“I’ve also been formulating a long-term plan of how we will leverage our internal and external studios based on the changes that are happening and that we expect to happen in our business in the near future,” he continued.
“My immediate focus is to take advantage of opportunities to strengthen our current product pipeline. With meeting Volition, for example, I found that the in-progress Saints Row: The Third – Enter The Dominatrix expansion pack was an incredible amount of fun to play. I had so much fun playing and experimenting that we rethought the opportunity and decided to turn the expansion into a full sequel and move the release to calendar ’13 and incorporate the assets into a full-sized broader game.
“The financial reward for a full-fledged sequel of Saints Row: 4, if you will, should far outweigh the short-term impact of moving the former expansion pack out of fiscal 2013.”
Rubin added that he was looking to “leverage the individual strength of each of our studios and intellectual properties, and match the right game experiences with the right business models to exploit new and emerging trends in gaming.”
Vigil recently finished up work on Darksiders II. Earlier this month it was revealed that the studio was hiring for a first-person shooter.
Relic, meanwhile, is busy putting the finishing touches to Company of Heroes 2, due to launch early next year. The studio told VideoGamer.com last month that it felt its strength lies in strategy titles. Could it be in the process of pre-producing a third Company of Heroes game?
Volition is expected to be developing Saints Row 4.
Besides those titles, THQ currently has numerous games in development, including Homefront 2, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Metro: Last Light and an unannounced title from Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock.
