THQ Cancels Entire 2014 Lineup in Preparation for Company Sale (Rumor)

The rumor mill is buzzing this morning after a THQ insider tweeted that the company has canceled its entire 2014 lineup in preparation for a, yet unreported, sale of the company.

Industry insider Kevin Dent tweeted that THQ had canceled an MMO based on a license by Games Workshop, most probably Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium Online, and went on to say that THQ has cancelled all other 2014 releases and was currently returning intellectual property rights to their licensors.

The reason? To beef up THQ's cash reserves in preparation for the company's sale. Dent writes, "I am hearing everything (in 2014 is canceled), they need to preserve cash."

THQ does have some big games lined up for 2012 including Metro: Last Light, Darksiders II and the recently announced South Park: The Game, but that hasn't stopped THQ's share-price from taking a pummeling recently. Its dropped to just6 66 cents a share from a high of $6, mostly due to a bevy of lackluster releases in 2011; the most high-profile of which being the 2011 release of the uDraw tablet who's commercial failure led to  layoffs of its Play THQ division.

In fact, back on December 10, 2011 industry analyst Michael Pachter told Gamasutra that THQ could possibly run out of cash by 2013.

"Given its declining licensed and core properties (apart from Saints Row), and an uncertain release schedule next year, we remain unconvinced that FY:13 will be profitable," said Pachter.
"We think its cash position may be compromised. The company's debt covenants suggest to us that its line of credit must be repaid to avoid default, and we think that THQ is at risk of running out of cash by the June 2012 quarter."
Pachter and other analysts have pointed to the uDraw as the main culprit of THQ's money problems unless, Pachter speculates, there are other monetary shenanigans going on below the surface. "We note that the Q3 miss reflects a shortfall of almost all of the 2.3 million uDraw units we modeled, suggesting that either guidance is overly conservative, or that there is a bigger as yet undisclosed problem."

[Source: Kotaku]