THQ’s intellectual properties, including series like Saints Row, Darksiders, Company of Heroes, and many, many more going to go up for auction on Jan. 22. The gaming industry’s biggest companies like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Activision are amongst the parties said to be interested in buying up THQ’s goods. “They have good things,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot recently, “We are always interested in good brands. It’s something we can consider, but I can’t tell you more.” According to one report, though some small independent studios are also keen on the auction.
Double Fine, the Tim Schafer led studio behind Psychonauts and upcoming downloadable The Cave, is likely to bid on THQ properties later this month. This is according to Distressed Debt who said on Twitter, “Double Fine has requested the bankruptcy filings in the THQ case.”
This doesn’t mean that we’ll be getting that Darksiders meets Brutal Legend crossover we’ve all been dreaming about for so long. As MCV noted, Double Fine’s interest is likely in recapturing distribution rights to two of its own games, namely Costume Quest and Stacking. THQ partnered with Double Fine to publish both games on the PC, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in 2010 and 2011.