Maybe you couldn't tell by the massive marketing campaigns behind Homefront, Red Faction: Armageddon, Saints Row The Third, or Warhammer 40K Space Marine, but THQ is in the middle of rebranding itself. The development house formerly known for games centered around SpongeBob and other licensed fare is posturing itself as the big publisher it always has been.
In the process, THQ has gone about obtaining several "gets." A new company direction means new games and new names. Obviously Director Guiellmo Del Toro was one of those names. While Del Toro's game is still years away, another name should be much more important to you:
Patrice Desilets. He's the creator of the Assassin's Creed franchise and used to be one of the biggest names is Ubisoft's portfolio. THQ recently built a huge development house in Montreal, joining Ubisoft Montreal, Eidos Montreal, and EA Montreal. With a relocation involving a walk across the street, Patrice became one of the biggest names in THQ's portfolio.
The creative freedom that THQ gives its artists and developers– and their willingness to make games that truly reflect an artistic vision– really drew me to THQ. I plan to build an incredibly talented team at THQ, and am very anxious to get started on creating a new project.
Word was that Desilets had already started building a new team with developer talent from his former Ubisoft development house. That got THQ and the developer in a bit of hot water as Ubisoft sued to reinforce the non-compete clause in Desilets' contract.
After starting a brand new IP that took off rather well, what did THQ have to offer Desilets to get the dev to leave Ubisoft? You can read the full press release here.
