Should Ubisoft take over the bankrupt THQ?

By: Moses Abaortae

  |   December 28th, 2012   |  

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The Assassin’s Creed publisher has been expanding aggressively in recent months and now has the perfect opportunity to continue on that path by acquiring THQ, but should it?

According to various reports, representatives from Ubisoft have held detailed meetings with both THQ and the private equity firm, which now controls the bankrupt publisher, over the potential of a possible takeover. There has been no confirmation as to whether or not Ubisoft wishes to take its fellow publisher over completely or whether it is interested in acquiring specific IPs.

THQ has been struggling on the financial front for well over a year and only recently announced that it had filed for bankruptcy. However, the publisher was given a ray of hope before going into administration when titles such as Darksiders 2 and Saints Row: The Third sold better than expected and THQ was thrown a lifeline.

Now, however, the publisher is under the control of a private equity firm and a number of parties have been identified as being interested in bidding to take over the publisher. One such party is Ubisoft and the studio’s CEO Yves Guillemot has publicly expressed his interest in acquiring the studio and its IP, though he has admitted that he is willing to wait.

Ubisoft has been looking to expand aggressively in recent years and has increased its production of various IPs. Apart from releasing a new Assassin’s Creed game every year, to financial success, the studio has also released a number of other titles ranging from the likes of Driver: San Francisco to Far Cry 3 and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier to the Wii U launch title ZombiU.

It would make sense for Ubisoft to consider at least one of THQ’s IPs if not the entire company. IPs such as Darksiders, Saints Row and Metro all have a solid fan base and the risks involved in working on these games is fairly low as compared to developing and releasing a completely new IP.

The acquisition would also fit in with Ubisoft’s recent aggressive expansion plans and give them access to a wider talent pool. In fact, if Ubisoft was to acquire THQ’s assets and IPs then it could seriously consider itself a real contender against the likes of EA.

As long as it is feasible, there is no reason why Ubisoft should not be looking at THQ and seeing a pot of gold, however, it will be interesting to see whether Yves Guillemot and the other Ubisoft executives feel the same way.

Do you think Ubisoft should acquire THQ? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the editorial policy of news.wishfree.com in any way.