(Shoulda used your Vaseline cheat-code, Georges. Props: urdirt.com)
Even if you don’t read the news regularly, you may be aware that our country is going through a bit of a recession. Maybe your former boss might have mentioned it when you were fired. Basically, it’s a bad time to own a company in America, or work at one. And though the UFC’s pay-per-view buys have looked seemingly recession-proof, they may be feeling the pinch in an unexpected way. WatchKalibRun reports that THQ, the publisher of UFC 2009 Undisputed, is in serious financial straits, which could affect the fate of the hotly-anticipated video game:
THQ has lost $334 million dollars this year and their stock prices has fallen from $20 a share to $2 a share. Now according to Michael Hickey of Janco Partners, the company has a fifty percent chance of going bankrupt. Currently THQ is trying to save over $220 million next year and are preparing to slash over 600 employees. However, the prognosis remains dark for THQ…
The worst-case scenario is that [UFC 2009 Undisputed] will be shelved, incomplete and not sold to another publisher or developer. The best case scenario is that THQ survives and publishes the game. If the game is near completion and THQ is going under, then THQ may publish the game before closing shop…THQ could also sell the game to developer who is not in trouble, or if things are really bad for THQ they could sell the studio, Yuke’s Media Creations, that is creating the game. Since THQ’s recent big budget games have been unsuccesful it seems unlikely that will sell off a potential blockbuster, but considering these financial times, no bets are off.
With the UFC’s heavy interest in the videogame…it would be likely that if THQ were to go under the UFC would buy the product and sell it to another publisher if THQ did not. Will UFC: Undisputed survive THQ’s financial troubles? The answer is most likely yes. But that doesn’t mean the game will be a good product.
Damn. THQ has been working on this thing since War Machine was in the UFC, so it would be an epic failure if it got shelved, or if they had to release a rushed, imperfect version. And by the way, how does a game company lose a third of a billion dollars in a single year? It’s not like they were responsible for this pile of shit…
All y’all faggots ain’t got shit on me. I made $1,965,357 before taxes last year selling shoes on Ebay. Y’all ain’t shit. I bought a $3.5 million house before the economy crashed but I don’t care. I’m 25 turning 26 on March 15th. Holler, while I get some dank from my source.