The Company Making the UFC Undisputed Video Game May Be Going Under
by Kid Nate on Mar 5, 2009 5:45 PM EST
in MMA News
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PrintZak Woods has the scoop:
The first UFC videogame, titled Undisputed, for the next generation of consoles is currently in development by THQ. But the international developer and publisher of videogames is facing tough financial times.
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 (via gamereplays.org).
Currently THQ is trying to save over $220 million next year and are preapring to slash over 600 employees. However, the prognosis remains dark for THQ.
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If they go bankrupt, could the lifetime rights to fighter likenesses that Zuffa gave them be sold to someone else?
This was my prediction 3-4 months ago.
I think even Meltzer said they were likely to go under a few months ago.
I will be amazed if Undisputed gets released on time and doesn’t get pushed back.
It has already been pushed back a lot. I think they are mostly done it. I am familiar with the software life cycle and it can’t be much diffrent then the game development life cycle. They have demo versions out and have delivery in 3 months. It will get out if they don’t hit a rollout snag and then it is just a delay not a sign of doom.
For the umpteenth time, bankruptcy does not mean going poof. Bankruptcy likely means they restructure and try again or get bought. In an absolute worst case scenario where they can’t make arrangements with creditors during chapter 11 proceedings, they’d get liquidated.
And if they get liquidated, doesn’t that mean partly what the author implies? Namely, problems getting the game released on time?
right, but unless that happens yesterday, the game will come out this summer. They might hit snags, but they will likely be loosly or not related to there money problems. Getting the game out is how they will make money, so they will do it hell or high water. And from what I can tell, they are not rushing it out. Its been in the making for like three years.
One would assume they’d be under Chapter 11 for a while. Most companies are allowed normal operations under Chapter 11.
It’s also worth noting that while the game is being published by THQ, it is being developed by Yuke’s Media Creations. Who knows what kind of arrangement Yuke’s and THQ have, but it could be that the game has already been fully funded and will completed regardless of solvency issues. Getting it out there is another issue altogether I suppose, but Yuke’s a successful game company in it’s on right, who I think has published wrestling games of it’s own in the past. Point is, at this point this is all speculation, including talk of bankruptcy. Very few companies are getting away with layoffs and cutbacks of some sort right now.
Anyroad, I read lots of news every day. And every day it’s this and that company might, maybe, could be going out of business. And if it happens at all, it usually takes a while. It’s the hot news topic du jour because of the economic crisis, but it’s getting old without substance backing it up.
Fun fact though. Yuke’s owns 54% of New Japan Pro Wrestling.
It’s called playing fast and loose with the English language, smoogs.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
What I have been told...
by a somewhat inside source…
1) The game will still come out late spring/early summer.
2) THQ’s money problems have been pretty well known in the video game community for some time.
3) Even a massive success with the UFC game likely doesn’t keep the company afloat.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 5, 2009 6:11 PM EST reply actions
I know nothing about video games
But my understanding is that the industry is still largely healthy, no?
Actually, no...
That’s a bad assumption. I worked as a video game reviewer for a bit, and I still dabble in it for gaming websites from time to time. Video games are a tough sell because many companies dabble in multiple genres, having multiple child companies, and for the most part, don’t make insane amounts of money.
MMO companies like Blizzard who have monthly rate games make the bulk of the video game industry money, and the console gaming market, but for the most part, the video game industry isn’t doing unbelievably well.
The recent recession however, has helped video game companies out, and this is a known fact to insiders. More people staying in equals more people buying games for children, etc for entertainment purposes. This is one of the reasons why the Wii is still seeing huge sales, and the recession has been somewhat considered the reason. Sure, they don’t have money to blow, but one game as an entertainment value is better than spending loads to go to a movie, out to dinner.
That is one of the things I’ve heard from a lot of reviewers, but the main problem still lies on video game companies controlling costs, etc, and companies like EA are cutting down to the point where they almost go under.
THQ isn’t immune. A company like Blizzard is likely immune, unless they’ve gotten too big and suddenly have a dropoff in subscriptions to a game like World of Warcraft or Warcrack as I like to make fun of my friends over.
EA had huge problems, and it’s going to continue on a downward turn. Get ready for the video game industry to begin hurting badly as it is already predicted that the recession will only get worse this year until a rebound next year.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:33 PM EST up reply actions
Too late, it is already hurting bad.
Basically, what you are saying is that if you didn’t make WoW, you are screwed.
:)
Pretty much...
WoW was genius because not only did it get people addicted, but it costs like $15 or $20 a month times 8 million subscribers. Do the math, that’s ridiculous.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:36 PM EST up reply actions
Plus, they suckered people into buying on expansion pack to a MMO…ahaha, which of course they still have to pa the monthly subscription.
Exactly...
They are money whores, and I know the Starcraft MMO coming out is going to sucker every single Starcraft Geek from back in the day into it. The Korean market will go fucking apeshit over it if their infrastructure catches up with the times.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:39 PM EST up reply actions
Aha! I knew you were full of shit. Koreans don’t even play video games.
by smoogy on Mar 5, 2009 7:19 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Phenomenal.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
I don’t get it. What do you mean once S. Korea’s infrastructure catches up with the time? Korea is often considered one of the biggest technological powers in the world and has a very high tech infrastructure. Not trying to pick on you, just seems like a curious statement and wondering in what context you are referring to it.
I guess infrastructure wasn’t the right term. I recently read a book about a guy who went to South Korea, and studied the video game industry there. Here’s the big surprise.
There are many young South Koreans making somewhere around 200k a year playing…. wait for it… the ORIGINAL STARCRAFT. They televise tournaments on their national networks, and those video game elite are like Hollywood superstars there.
Not their infrastructure, but just overall outlook at games. One of the problems noted in the book was the trade restrictions they’ve had with Japan and Taiwan and they don’t import much from there due to cultural differences.
Very interesting views over there. There isn’t a whole lot of innovative gaming options because they don’t actually see a lot of the Western style games as exciting or they don’t see them at all.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 8:01 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah...
Starcraft is HUGE there on a competitive level. The top guys there are, as you said, like rockstars of superstar athletes.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 5, 2009 9:36 PM EST up reply actions
But playing WoW is like admiting that you are a geek. Seeing it come through charged on your credit card is depressing.
I could never get into that stuff. The problem is it takes so much time to be any good and you have to constantly keep up with it. It’s like having a second family.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:39 PM EST up reply actions
Family doesn’t require anywhere near the investment of time that that friggin’ game does.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
You're right
It doesn’t. I played for 2 months in college with a friend’s free trial. I couldn’t do it. It was like “Come fucking raid!” ALL THE TIME. I couldn’t do it man. Just too much fun to be had in REALITY
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:44 PM EST up reply actions
I played for one month and couldn’t justify paying for a second.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
Pfft, you aren’t living until you grind for 18 hours to get a fucking different MOUNT than everyone else. I had a buddy do that shit, ridiculous.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:49 PM EST up reply actions
Damn crazy.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
What’s more crazy is one of my girlfriend’s hot friends at the time wanted me to introduce him to her, but I was like “Does she realize he plays games 24 hours a day?”
Then she wasn’t interested.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:51 PM EST up reply actions
One of my buddies actually plays the game with his girlfriend. They’ve been known to show up late to stuff because they were finishing a quest (and no, that’s not a euphemism).
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
ROFL
That is just too far… although… least they have something they can do together
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:56 PM EST up reply actions
I had a friend in college who could pick up chicks wandering by his dorm room while he was playing Diablo 2, and pretty much ignoring her while he continued to play and then sleep with her later that night. He did this multiple times.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
That’s impressive… I think?
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Mar 5, 2009 10:06 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, 11 million today.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 7:00 PM EST up reply actions
Hahaha…I follow the Video Game industry and they are ALL going out of business due to high expenses in development and marketing, and low revenue made from the game themselves. The third party groups and smaller developers are now starting to rise.
And if you really have to ask:
THQ Stock Price was 20-30$ a year ago, it is now 2-3$ dollars.
That goes for most companies during the recession.
Exactly...
I have worked in it from time to time as a programmer, writer, and playing as well. It’s a very bad time to be in the industry right now unless you’re with Blizzard as a developer or another HUGE company making boatloads of money.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:35 PM EST up reply actions
Which companies are still safe?
I’m assuming:
-Blizzard
-Valve
-Capcom
-Konami
Help us out here Game Pro.
Though, that’s not to say that EA is doing well. Their innovative approach last year really hurt their bottom-line, and apparently they’re still interested in continuing the strategy.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
Activision – Guitar Hero, Call of Duty
Nintendo – Mario Kart, Wii Fit
Take Two – Grand Theft Auto series
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 7:54 PM EST up reply actions
In all honesty, the industry grew in 2008, but is slowly declining. The problem is that I think there are a BULK of the games coming from the bigger name publishers that are pushing those numbers. Some of the smaller development studios are dying in groves.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 7:55 PM EST up reply actions
The Hollywood factory mentality might also be killing them.
Many companies pump out too many games of low quality, but still at a high cost of production. “Next-Gen” is more than normal maps. It takes time and highly skilled artisans of code and pixels.
Rushed and mass-produced isn’t going to get people to shell out their cash in these times. 90% of games are half-assed garbage.
Hopefully a consolidation in these tough times will help improve the focus of instead of kill the industry.
Because to put it frankly, THQ sucks.
Brad Ziegler had a scoreless inning streak. Brad Ziegler had not met BJ Upton.
Overall, yes
The video game industry has been one of the best lately, even somewhat prospering in the otherwise poor economic conditions.
This talk about THQ has been going on for awhile from what I recall.
EA will buy them.
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." -- George W. Bush, Oct. 18, 2000
I'd be lying
If I said that wasn’t the first thought that came to my mind too.
or Activision.
or Microsoft.
or Sony.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/03/electronic-arts-losses-technology_0203_paidcontent.html
Holiday sales weren’t enough to stop the losses at Electronic Arts, as the gaming giant posted a $641 million loss for Q4 (its fiscal Q3), or $2 per share—up from a $33 million, $0.10 per share loss the previous year.
..
—Cost-cutting details: Details about the company’s mass layoffs had been trickling out, but today’s report added more clarity: 11, or about 1,100 employees will be cut—up from the 6 estimate EA gave during Q3 earnings, and from the 10% it said in December; it expects to incur restructuring charges between $65-$75 million over the course of the year as a result. The company also upped the number of facilities it would be closing from 9 to 12.
This is all misleading though. You just have to read the financials for EA, their revenue was nearly the same as the year before, the losses were mostly from various accounting rules and restructuring. They are not in danger of going under.
This is kind of the danger in reading financial reporting on MMA websites and such…you get misled.
I didn’t say they were going under, but they are hurting bad, like many other game developers.
THQ could be going under after this year though, that’s not a secret to anyone.
Actually, EA is very close to being dead. It’s all over industry news, and the cost cutting isn’t expected to work out well. I would imagine EA will get bought up by someone bigger soon.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:37 PM EST up reply actions
There games have gone down in quality from what I have heard. They are riding madden into the ground I guess. been a while since I played a video game.
I hate EA games nowadays. I remember playing the old’ NHL series, but every year, there was some sort of exploitive bug, and even the newer versions, I can always find a tactic in which I can crush teams on the hardest difficulty at 20-0. It’s ridiculous.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:42 PM EST up reply actions
NHL '09...
is friggin awesome.
NCAA is my favorite ongoing series…
and Fight Night is great
but the basketball stuff, madden and everything else EA does is crap
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 5, 2009 6:45 PM EST up reply actions
NHL ‘09, I crush the hardest difficulty all the time. It become so god damn boring, I couldn’t do it anymore. I would have tournaments over at my place, and I would crush people constantly because… well… I played hockey all my life and just used basic hockey strategies, but the main problem was the Goalie AI.
I could do cross ice passes to other players near the net and get goals all day, even on the hardest difficulty.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:46 PM EST up reply actions
No. lol
EA publishes games. The devs that make Madden and the NBA series suck.
FIFA is great, and they also pucblish the MASS EFFECT series, since they own Bioware. Bioware is like the KING of great rpg games.
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." -- George W. Bush, Oct. 18, 2000
Man, I haven’t touched FIFA in forever, I need to try it again. I used to own one of them when SIgnori was a fucking GOD!
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:50 PM EST up reply actions
Well...
whatever. I’m speaking on the EA sports stuff more than the other stuff. I don’t really give a shit who develops…most of the stuff with EA’s name on it that I have played lately have been garbage.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 5, 2009 6:53 PM EST up reply actions
Umm... EA isn't just a publisher
They have internal development studios. Those studios are part of EA. And also, Mass Effect was done when EA published it/bought Bioware. Let’s see how their product looks after it’s been developed under their watchful eye. They’ve killed many an acquired studio in the past 15 years.
PS; I hate EA.
"I hit [Evensen], and you could just see it in his head. He went, 'Oh, man. We don't have to do this anymore. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm going to go home now." -Pat "The Real Techno Viking" Berry
LOL
NHL ‘96 through ’’98 were awesome! Although heavily flawed, great gameplay.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 7:56 PM EST up reply actions
Me and my brother got that game for PC + 2 PSX style Gravispads for Christmas one year because my parents didn’t want to buy us a Playstation. We had a decent PC so at the time, I remembering being in complete awe of the “lifelike 3D graphics”.
On anything below the highest setting, doing a stickside double deke resulted in a goal 99/100 times
Shooting from the blue line along side the boards, almost an insta-goal.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 8:01 PM EST up reply actions
They are in danger of chapter 11, which isn’t the same thing as going under. They closed all of these studios and plants, and as a result the balance of the depreciation became a loss on the year. Not all losses are created equally.
by Michael Rome on Mar 5, 2009 6:40 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I’m not talking about their bankruptcy issues. From what I’ve heard from insiders, restructuring likely won’t help their cause. They can make some writeoffs, etc, but the problem overall is that EA’s sales aren’t as strong as they used to be. This year’s Madden wasn’t as huge as they wanted it to be, and one of the problems I’ve heard about EA is that their games aren’t evolving. I think other studios may be able to hurt them financially by taking away sales.
Add that to their bankruptcy problems, I don’t see EA staying competitive without some major personnel restructuring.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:42 PM EST up reply actions
The thing is, most of their losses (almost all) are accounting tricks. I actually want to read some financial people on EA rather than video game news. It’s a classic accounting trick to write off losses early by closing buildings on 10 year depreciation plans. You avoid the losses you’re taking on them over time and take the loss all at once. These are paper losses.
Chime in
I know you have more sight on this, Newbs, give us some details.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:49 PM EST up reply actions
It’s possible you’re correct, but cutting staff can’t be helping them. They’ve already been talked about as losing their edge that they used to have in the industry, and their games just aren’t innovative. It seems that from year to year, there are very little changes.
THQ’s UFC game looked innovative, but the problem that I think THQ will see… the UFC game won’t be as good as everyone is making it out to be. It looks great, but I think the AI is gonna be a real disappointment.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:48 PM EST up reply actions
Like every other game?
2K had some of the Best AI in games, before EA took the NFL license.
Sucks for EA when their License with the NFL is over and if the NFL chooses someone else.
Gotta say..
I never understood the love for the 2K football games. Then again even with my huge love of football the only video games I think are worth a damn for the sport is the annual NCAA release
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 5, 2009 6:55 PM EST up reply actions
2K isn’t bad, but sometimes they make their hockey games almost impossible, although I’ve found AI problems in those games as well, but I haven’t played any of the other games.
MLB games, I found myself having a created player with a .443 average and 75 homers in one season, I found that a bit ridiculous, and I got cut from the team, lol. Odd AI.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:55 PM EST up reply actions
Madden hasn’t come close to making a game like NFL2K5. Everything else is garbage, IMO.
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." -- George W. Bush, Oct. 18, 2000
It seems like they always have the same features. I found the whole training camp feature to be… boring.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:57 PM EST up reply actions
Hahaha. I dare anyone to score 20 goals on a 2K hockey game…ahaha. My all time high was like 5 or 6. Of course, this was before. The quality has lowered since.
What? I have it. I’ve scored 18 on a team before. The biggest key is getting into the slot and doing a small juke, and it’s goals galore.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 6:58 PM EST up reply actions
The most recent version, I crushed. It took me awhile to figure it out though.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Mar 5, 2009 7:00 PM EST up reply actions
I'm shocked
$334 million dollar? How many developers do they employ! Those expenses are way to high.
I need to start a video game company. The technology hasn’t been that ground breaking in years.
The game is coming out. Even if THQ does go under b4 it releases someone else will pick up the rights and still put it out there. If UFC approves, which you know they will. Its happened before with other games. If the Co. making the game goes down and the game is good another Co. scoops it up finishes it and publishes it. No biggie. This is old news (in the blogosphere) either way.
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
Off subject
I’m watching Sportscenter right now and they just ran an add for UFC96 lol. Sweet! I was like, is this Spike? Just never seen a UFC add on ESPN.
Carry on…
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on Mar 5, 2009 6:54 PM EST up reply actions
The game
isn’t in any turmoil according to the THQ rep I spoke with this morning.
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