4A Games creative director Andrew Prokhorov thanks Jason Rubin for telling the studio’s story, but says “we deserve the ratings we get.”

4A Games creative director Andrew Prokhorov has responded to former THQ president Jason Rubin’s detailed report that claimed the Ukrainian developer had a limited budget and faced adverse workplace conditions throughout development of Metro: Last Light.

His statement came from the comments section in the original Games Industry International report

Prokhorov pointed out that 4A Games has worked with THQ for ten years prior to its bankruptcy. He said Rubin was the only company president to visit the studio, doing so during his second week on the job. Prokhorov said he does not blame Rubin for THQ’s collapse, saying he only had a few months to “somehow fix the situation.”

Regarding the studio’s office space–where Rubin said developers worked elbow to elbow and sometimes in freezing temperatures–Prokhorov said it is generally known that much could be improved upon.

“It is a fact that our work conditions are worse than those of other developers outside Ukraine,” he said. “I don’t think anyone can doubt that–yes, it’s true that American and most of European developers operate in a country far more comfortable than Ukraine. And yes, the publishers pay them more. This is clear: the more ‘reasonable’ the country the less the risks. And we don’t want to be all dramatic about that–after all, better conditions are earned, and we strive to do this as soon as possible.”

Prokhorov also said new publisher Deep Silver should be forgiven for not including the 4A Games logo on the Metro: Last Light website.

“Jason, please don’t blame Deep Silver for not having our logo on the game site,” he said. “Just like us, they ended up in a harsh situation and had to do a lot of things in two months, which was definitely a very hard task. I don’t blame them for letting the logo thing slip. They are trying hard.”

Regarding multiplayer, Prokhorov said the team at 4A Games wanted to make this mode, but only gave a cryptic answer for the reason why it was canceled last year.

“We did want to make a multiplayer. Though if it was excluded from the start, a lot of precious time wouldn’t be wasted and we’d make an even better single,” he said.

Overall, Prokhorov said 4A Games is not looking for sympathy.

“We deserve the ratings we get,” Prokhorov added. “After all, the final consumer doesn’t care about our conditions. And this is right. We need no indulgence.”

Metro: Last Light launched this week for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC published by Deep Silver, which acquired the franchise from THQ in January for $5.8 million. For more, check out GameSpot’s review.

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Ubisoft confirms it has indefinitely suspended development on upcoming game after designer Patrice Desilets was let go.

Ubisoft has indefinitely suspended development on its mysterious upcoming game 1666, CEO Yves Guillemot revealed today during a post-earnings financial call (via Polygon). The news comes after months of discussions with designer and Ubisoft veteran Patrice Desilets, who has since been let go.

“After more than two months of discussions with [Desilets], we couldn’t align our vision both on project development and team management,” Guillemot said. “So consequently our collaboration has ended, and we have suspended 1666 for an undisclosed period of time.”

Little is known concerning 1666, which was first revealed through a trademark application and then in THQ bankruptcy documents. The game was expected to sell 4 million units.

If its title is indicative of the year in which it was to be set, the game may have focused on the Great Fire of London, the historical conflagration that destroyed hundreds of acres of the city in September of that year.

Desilets originally left Ubisoft in 2010 to head up THQ Montreal and work on an all-new franchise. When THQ went belly-up, Ubisoft purchased the studio and its games.

Despite some initial uncertainty, the publisher at the time expected Desilets to stay on board.

That changed last week when Desilets, along with producer Jean-François Boivin, were let go. Desilets claims he was fired, saying “Ubisoft’s actions are baseless and without merit. I intend to fight Ubisoft vigorously for my rights, for my team and for my game.”

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2K Sports’ wrestling game WWE 2K14 to arrive in October this year for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

2K Sports’ upcoming professional wrestling game WWE 2K14 has been scheduled for an October 29 release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, parent company Take-Two Interactive has announced.

The date was unveiled in Take-Two Interactive’s report for the 2013 fiscal year ending March 31. WWE 2K14 is being developed by Yuke’s (Rumble Roses, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw series) and Visual Concepts (NBA series).

Take-Two Interactive acquired the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) license for video games earlier this year following THQ’s bankruptcy. The multi-year licensing agreement will see WWE games continue to be developed by Yuke’s.

The new partnership nullifies previous WWE and Yuke’s contracts, allowing the companies to sign new deals with Take-Two Interactive. As part of the deal, THQ will pay WWE $650,000 in royalty payments for games sold while under bankruptcy protection.

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New idea to involve producer of Hellboy and Tomb Raider films; ex-executive VP Danny Bilson adds that his old company “couldn’t change fast enough”.

The former executive vice president of THQ, Danny Bilson, announced a new sci-fi fantasy horror project during the GameHorizon conference in Newcastle, UK.

Ex-THQ frontman Danny Bilson’s next project is a sci-fi game-film tien-in.

According to the presentation (via Eurogamer), Bilson said that the project is a game-and-film tie-in reminiscent of SyFy and Trion World’s Defiance project. His partner in the project is Lloyd Levin, producer of films like Watchmen, Tomb Raider, and Hellboy. He has yet to announce his distribution partner at this point in time.

He plans to launch three two-hour episodes per year, while releasing a narrative of three to four interactive chapters in-between the episodes. He continues, “…let’s take the fan from the film through three chapters of the game right into the next film. We’ve got the writers of the film writing the game narrative. We’ve got the actor’s likeness, voice, and the players – fans – can participate in the narrative, up to a point, and then rejoin the film narrative and it’s all delivered on the same devices: the PC, the pads or any digital device.”

He added that no one has ever been able to move a story from a linear to an interactive form back-to-back because there’s a barrier between the film makers and game developers that restrict them from making creative liberties to that story.

He also said a few things about his time in THQ during the conference. He said that the company “couldn’t change fast enough” from a licensed games-making company to a core games publisher. He said that six out of the 17 studios under the company “didn’t know what they were making”, so he was given the task to manage their direction. During his time, he was also given control of both the production and marketing departments to fix the relationship between the two divisions.

For more information, check out the video of the presentation.

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Borderlands publisher won’t have official presence at trade show in June; Take-Two Interactive will conduct business meetings only.

2K Games will not have a booth on the show floor at the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo this summer, the publisher has announced on its website.

“At 2K, we’re excited for the new opportunities coming with the next generation of hardware, and are hard at work preparing our announced titles for release,” the company explained.

“While 2K will not have a booth on the show floor at this year’s E3 conference, we will have a lot of great news coming your way this spring,” the statement continues.

2K’s slate of upcoming titles includes the Brave New World expansion for Civilization V, XCOM: Enemy Unknown for iOS, WWE 14, NBA 2K14, and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.

Though 2K Games will not have a presence on the E3 2013 show floor, parent company Take-Two Interactive will hold its typical business meetings at the event.

“We are going to have a meeting room in the upper concourse level and we’ll be doing some business meetings as we usually do,” a Take-Two spokesperson confirmed with Joystiq. “2K is not participating.”

It is unclear if Rockstar Games will participate in E3 2013. The label typically does not attend the show. Grand Theft Auto V launches on September 17 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Earlier this week, Nintendo announced that it would not host a major presentation at E3 2013 in favor of smaller events to showcase new titles.

The Entertainment Software Association–the group responsible for organizing E3–is seeking $190,000 from bankrupt publisher THQ for money owed over booth space reserved for the show.

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Microsoft, UFC, Mattel, Codemasters, and Double Fine among long list of parties seeking money from bankrupt publisher.

Numerous individuals and companies alike have come forward claiming THQ owes them hundreds of millions of dollars in the wake of the company’s December bankruptcy filing.

Claims registered in the Kurtzman Carson Consultants database (via Polygon), reveal hundreds of parties are seeking money from the publisher for a variety of reasons.

Wal-Mart is seeking $1.6 million from THQ over a supplier agreement, while the Entertainment Software Association wants $190,000 for money owed over booth space reserved for this summer’s Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Developers filing claims include Codemasters ($1 million for unpaid game royalties), Double Fine ($595,000 for breach of contract related to Stacking and Costume Quest), and Microsoft ($213,000 for royalty payments related to Xbox 360 peripherals).

Other big-name companies on the list include toy-maker Mattel, which seeks $12.75 million for an unspecified contractual obligation and UFC parent company Zuffa, which claims it is owed $1.9 million for unpaid royalties related to UFC games.

Former THQ executives Brian Farrell ($6.4 million), Jason Rubin ($2 million), and Jason Kay ($2 million) also filed claims against the company. Farrell’s claim stems from money owed over his termination “without cause,” while Rubin claims THQ was potentially negligent about its financial circumstances when it hired him last year to turn the company around.

Claims continue to be accepted, but no money is expected to be paid until the end of May.

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New franchise owners looking for suitable dev teams, want to release a worthy follow-up

With THQ declaring bankruptcy late last year, one of the franchises left in limbo was the Darksiders series of action-adventure games. Fans of the series can now breathe easy, as Nordic Games has saved Darksiders along with other leftover THQ properties–get more details after the jump!

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Pending court approval, THQ’s remaining assets have been purchased by 3 companies for approximately 5.55 million dollars.

Nordic Games has purchased several of THQ’s remaining assets. This purchase includes the rights to the popular Darksiders, MX vs. ATV, and Red Faction franchises. Nordic Games also obtained other THQ software such as Destroy All Humans! and Summoner, and some licensed software including Marvel Super Hero Squad and Supreme Commander. This transaction cost Nordic Games $4.9 million.

Gearbox Software, the developer of Borderlands 2, has purchased the rights to the Homeworld franchise for 1.35 million dollars.

The last of THQ’s assets, Drawn to Life and Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter was purchased by 505 Games for $300,000.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here – Remaining THQ Assets Sold Off – News

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Auction results for bankrupt publisher’s remaining IP reveals new home from THQ games; Gearbox paid $1.35 million for Homeworld, 505 Games get Drawn to life for $300,000.

The auction results for bankrupt publisher THQ’s remaining assets have been published, with Nordic Games taking the Darksiders, Red Faction, and MX vs. ATV franchises for $4.9 million. The publisher also scored the Destroy all Humans!, Summoner, and Supreme Commander rights.

“First and foremost, we are very happy about this deal which also turns over a new leaf for the entire Nordic Games Group. In the long term, we either want to cooperate with the original creators or best possible developers in order to work on sequels or additional content for these titles,” said owner and CEO of Nordic Games Group AB, Lars Wingefors, in a statement. “A very important point for us is not to dash into several self-financed multimillion dollar projects right away, but rather to continue our in-depth analysis of all titles and carefully selecting different financing models for developing new installments of acquired IPs.”

Crytek USA, staffed by numerous ex-Vigil Games developers, had expressed interest in buying the Darksiders IP.

505 Games (Sniper Elite V2, Naughty Bear) also took home a new franchise today. The publisher purchased the rights to Drawn to Life and Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for $300,000.

The auction results also revealed the price Gearbox Software paid for the Homeworld IP: $1.35 million. The Plano, Texas developer will create new games in the series that will preserve the “purest form” of the franchise for digital platforms.

A Bankruptcy Court will hear the sales motions–totaling $6.55 million–on May 13, with the transactions expected to be finalized thereafter. Runner-up bids were not divulged.

The first THQ auction took place in January, during which franchises like Saints Row, Metro, Homefront, and Company of Heroes found new homes. Check out the full results of that auction for more.

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Borderlands developer acquires franchise from THQ in bankruptcy auction for undisclosed sum, plans to create new games for digital platforms.

Gearbox Software has acquired the Homeworld franchise, the Borderlands and Aliens: Colonial Marines developer announced today. The Plano, Texas company prevailed as the top bidder for the series during a recent THQ bankruptcy auction for remaining unsold franchises.

Terms of the deal were not specified and a Gearbox Software representative was not immediately available to comment. Gearbox outbid TeamPixel, which announced last week that a mystery party had offered more cash than it could for the series.

Writing in the Gearbox Software forums, community manager Chris Faylor explained that chief creative officer Brian Martel “personally spearheaded the acquisition.” He reportedly has a “great deal of love and respect” for Relic’s original Homeworld and Homeworld 2.

No new Homeworld games were announced today, but Gearbox said whatever it makes in the future will preserve the “purest form” of the original games while also making them accessible on today’s digital platforms.

Bidding for franchises left unsold after the January auction–including Red Faction and Darksiders (which Crytek USA is interested in)–closed last week. As much as $7 million is expected to be generated from the sale of remaining THQ IP.

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