While THQ has issued a statement claiming that it’s 2014 schedule is safe, allaying fears that the company was struggling for survival. There is little doubt that THQ is in a difficult spot. 2011 was undoubtedly a difficult year, with its share price dropping to 66 cents.
After the closure of THQ’s Australian studios, we follow the progress of ex-THQ Studio Australia Game Programmer Anthony Reddan, a young developer who recently left Australia to work overseas in Canada. Is his journey representative of a brain drain in the Australian games industry, or is the local indie development scene on the verge of a glorious rebirth?
An anonymous source from THQ’s former Brisbane studio has leaked videos showing gameplay and trailer footage from the Marvel game they were working on before the studio closed, The Avengers. We have three of them here. Update: The videos appear to have been removed from YouTube, but we took some screenshots before they were taken down.
I think one of the great tragedies of studios closing is all the great work that gets lost in the process — the concept art, the design prototypes — so when we were approached and asked if we could post some work from Blue Tongue’s artists we jumped at the chance!
Blue Tongue closed its doors on Friday, putting a great number of game developers out of work. Now Firemint has reached out, via Tsumea, to all Blue Tongue and THQ Australia employees let go by THQ.
It’s February 22 2011, at Blue Tongue. I’ve just arrived in Melbourne, to attend the De Blob 2 launch party. I have an interview with the Game Director, Nick Hagger who is, typically, in the midst of juggling a mega schedule; gone from a desk I suspect he rarely has time to sit at.
I lower myself onto Hagger’s chair to wait, and swivel around for the view. Blue Tongue is in full swing.
Shortly before the release of de Blob 2, Kotaku Australia headed down to Melbourne for a tour of Blue Tongue studio. That tour included an interview with Nick Haggar, Project Director at Blue Tongue – an interview that lasted for an hour and a half. If you have any interest in the Australian game industry and where it’s headed, this is a must read.
I went to Melbourne late last year to check out de Blob 2, and I completely fell in love. The game was already built on a unique, engaging concept, but Blue Tongue has polished and refined that concept, resulting in what I expect will be an incredibly fun game. Today THQ released a new trailer that gives you a flavour of what’s to come.
