Skip to main content

Darksiders vs. Brutal Legend? Double Fine bidding on THQ IP in bankruptcy auction this month

Image used with permission by copyright holder

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.

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
Volgarr the Viking 2 will take you back to your Ghosts ‘n Goblins days
A viking slashes a tree in Volgarr the Viking 2.

Developer Digital Eclipse is working on a surprising project: Volgarr the Viking 2. The 2D retro sequel will launch on August 6 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The news is an out of left field reveal. The first Volgarr the Viking game released in 2013 and was made as an ode to 1080s classics like Ghosts 'n Goblins. Despite being a small release, it sold over 1 million copies over the past decade. As revealed during today's Guerrilla Collective stream, the series is coming back with a new sequel by Digital Eclipse, the team behind this year's Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story.

Read more
3 Days of Play PS Plus games to try this weekend (June 7-9)
Key art for Streets of Rage 4.

June 2024 is shaping up to be a pretty great month for PlayStation players. Not only are we coming off an entertaining State of Play showcase, but a new Days of Play initiative surrounding all the video game showcases this month is bringing a lot of new PS Plus additions with it. Many of those games hit PS Plus this week, and three in particular stand out to us.

For owners of Sony's oft-neglected PlayStation VR2, the first game is one of its rare exclusives that take full advantage of the headset's eye-tracking by seeing how often players blink. The next is a new PS Plus Essential game that's a revival of Sega's classic beat-'em-up series for the modern gaming era. Finally, the last title is an atmospheric and eerie fishing game that should entice fans of Lovecraftian horror.
Before Your Eyes

Read more
3 first-party Xbox Game Pass games to try this weekend (June 7-9)
Gears 5 Kait Hero Close Up

Microsoft will hold an Xbox Games Showcase and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct. this Sunday. These shows will provide a much better idea of what to expect from Xbox over the course of the next year or two. That's really needed right now, as Microsoft has struggled to keep online discussions around Xbox positive as it went multiplatform with some games, laid off thousands of developers, and outright shut down the developers of Hi-Fi Rush and Redfall. Based on leaks and my personal expectations for the showcase, there are three games you can play on Xbox Game Pass this weekend to prepare for the event.

The first is the latest first-person shooter in a long-running series by id Software that might be getting a medieval-set spinoff. After that, we have the fifth entry in a sci-fi Xbox series that still looks fantastic on Xbox Series X/S even though it came out in 2019. Finally, you can prepare for Avowed with the latest RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, a satirical sci-fi game where player choice is critical.
Doom Eternal

Read more