During THQ’s annual investor call earlier this afternoon, two big announcements were made regarding the company’s future lineup. The release of South Park: The Stick of Truth will be moved to 2013, and Devil’s Third will no longer be published by THQ.
The Obsidian-developed South Park title joins BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider, both of which were recently delayed. The Stick of Truth was originally revealed in the January issue of Game Informer magazine, with a projected Fall 2012 release date. THQ gave no specific reason for the delay.
Even more troubling is the news of Devil’s Third being dropped from THQ’s publishing lineup. The upcoming action title was meant to be the first project from Valhalla Game Studios, led by Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki. Now the future of the game is in limbo.
Brian Farrell, president and CEO of THQ, explained the reasoning behind the decision.
“The profitability profile for Devil’s Third no longer met our internal threshold and we are currently in discussions with third parties regarding the future of this title,” he said. “There were a couple of unforeseen events that happened during the development of Devil’s Third. One was the company that Valhalla was using for the engine went out of business, so we had to assist Itagaki and the team with a new engine – it took a fair amount of time and cost a fair amount of money.”
Now the search for a new publisher begins. Given Itagaki’s track record, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see another game company pick up Devil’s Third in the near future.
[THQ]
[Joystiq]
