News

If you’re a gamer, there’s a high chance you’ve heard of Naughty Dog, the development studio behind some of the most iconic games in the industry’s history. Founded in 1984 by Andrew Gavin and Jason Rubin, the studio had achieved success with beloved franchises like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter.

Nd was once an independent studio. | Image Credit: Naughty Dog

In the early 2000s, the studio arrived at a crossroads. The escalating costs of developing a game in the 2000s were straining the studio’s resources. And so, Naughty Dog was sold to Sony in 2001. Gavin has recently shared some details regarding the situation back then and why selling the studio was the best option.

Selling Naughty Dog to Sony was the best move We wouldn’t have gotten some of our favorite games without this move. Image Credit: Naughty Dog

When Naughty Dog started in the 1980s,...

Hidetaka Miyazaki is one of the most reputed names in the video game industry. Todd Howard is another such personality who has gained acclaim for his creative endeavors.

Like Miyazaki’s revolutionary work with action RPGs, Howard is best known for his work with fantasy RPGs. While there are loads of incredibly talented industry veterans, these are our eight gems who have been revolutionary with their work.

#8 Hidetaka Miyazaki Elden Ring is one of the most popular titles from Hidetaka Miyazaki. Image Credits: Bandai Namco

At this point, Hidetaka Miyazaki is a man who needs no introduction. A legend in the video game space, he has worked on several chart-buster titles. The list includes Sekiro, Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and the Dark Souls trilogy.

Every product of Miyazaki’s vision and imagination oozes excellence. He is responsible for making FromSoftware a video game studio with such prosperous brand value. The video...

Scott Waugh whose credits include “Act of Valor” and the upcoming “The Expendables 4,” is attached to direct the upcoming documentary “Escape to Atlantis,” based on the findings of Seattle native Dr. Jason Rubin who has used deductive reasoning, the writings of philosopher Plato and cutting-edge satellite sonar imagery to pinpoint the location of the fabled lost island of Atlantis.

Said Waugh: “Every story, whether fact or fable, has a character we believe in and hope they prevail. Wouldn’t it be great to be part of a story where our protagonist wins and redefines the world’s truth?” “If Dr. Rubin has found Atlantis, not only does he continually save lives in the ER room, but he will have risen the dead of those lost in Plato’s fable and will redefine our history. That is a story I want to be a part of,” he added.

The documentary is being produced by Rubin,...

Seattle-based MindRiot Entertainment is teaming up with Panama’s Hypatia Films, an associate producer of Claire Denis’ Cannes Grand Prix winner “Stars at Noon,” on the groundbreaking documentary, “In Search of Atlantis,” based on the findings of Seattle native Dr. Jason Rubin who has used deductive reasoning, the writings of philosopher Plato and the most advanced satellite sonar imagery to pinpoint the location of the fabled lost island of Atlantis.

According to MindRiot co-founder and chief creative officer Jonathan Keasey, Dr. Rubin passed on other Hollywood suitors as he liked MindRiot’s approach to the content and the fact that it had marshalled the support of multiple universities, including deep sea explorer Don Walsh, the honorary president of the Explorers Club, and even European authorities, given the maritime jurisdiction of Rubin’s site in the Atlantic Ocean.

Denis is among the constellation of world talent descending on the 70th San Sebastian Film Festival.

There are no new music, no new tour, and no new Las Vegas residency, but there’s a lot of Britney Spears product out there in the days leading up to a potential seminal court hearing over the onetime Princess of Pop’s longstanding conservatorship.

Building up steam heading toward the September 29 showdown of sorts in Los Angeles Superior Court, CNN has been promoting its September 26 Toxic: Britney Spears’ Battle For Freedom Special Report, fronted by weekday anchor Alisyn Camerota and reporter Chloe Melas. Unveiled earlier this week and accompanied with a very newsmagazine-cut trailer a day later, Netflix has been teasing out a leaked “confidential report” about the big-money finances and more of the conservatorship for its documentary Britney vs Spears from director Erin Lee Carr. It premieres September 28.

This morning saw FX announce the debut tonight of its documentary Controlling Britney Spears. Focusing on the surveillance systems and...

Britney Spears is going to have a prenuptial agreement with new fiancé Sam Asghari and that’s now part of the reason she wants her purse strings holding father to exit her repressive conservatorship Asap.

Just two weeks after Jamie Spears unexpectedly moved to wind down the 13-year old legal arrangement, the much speculated revelations of the twice previously married Toxic singer’s decision to seek financial protection before saying her new vows came in a court filing today by Spears’ Greenberg Traurig Llp lawyers …and it ain’t unicorns and roses.

“While the present Termination Petition is fully supported by Ms. Spears and also consented to by Conservator of the Person Jodi Montgomery subject to proper transition and asset protection, the Termination Petition also speaks emphatically in support of the primary, present issue before the Court: the immediate and necessary suspension of Mr. Spears, by no later than September 29th,...

The slow-walk exit of Britney Spears’ father from the conservatorship that has ruled the performer’s life for the past 13 years needs to pick up the pace, the one-time Princess of Pop’s lawyer says, and without a price tag.

“Regardless of the past, Mr. Spears and his counsel are now on notice: the status quo is no longer tolerable, and Britney Spears will not be extorted,” says Matthew Rosengart in a fiery response filing Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

“Mr. Spears’s blatant attempt to barter suspension and removal in exchange for approximately $2 million in payments, on top of the millions already reaped from Ms. Spears’s estate by Mr. Spears and his associates, is a non-starter,” added the former federal prosecutor, who earlier this summer was brought on by Spears as her first chosen attorney in the much criticized conservatorship.

“The only honorable, decent, and humane course of action is for Mr.

Facing a flood of potential legal filings to come and the explicit declarations of his daughter, Jamie Spears has made a near 180-degree shift and decided to step down from Britney Spears’ extremely restricted conservatorship.

Revealed in a filing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, the move received a near immediate response from the onetime Princess of Pop’s new-ish lawyer Matthew Rosengart.

“This is a major victory for Britney Spears,” the Greenberg Traurig lawyer told Deadline. “We are pleased that Mr. Spears and his lawyer have today conceded in a filing that he must be removed,” he added, saying “We are disappointed, however, by their ongoing shameful and reprehensible attacks on Ms. Spears and others.” (Read the full statement below.)

As for Britney Spears, she made no reference to legal matters Thursday, but the social media-active performer did post a video just as her father was filing his...

Updated, 12:46 Pm: Britney Spears won’t get an earlier chance to try to chuck her father off of her restrictive conservatorship.

In a tactical victory for Jamie Spears over his daughter’s expressed wishes, Los Angles Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny today denied the request by the one-time Princess of Pop and her new-ish lawyer Matthew Rosengart

“The Application is … Denied Without Prejudice,” Penny ruled about the August 5 filing by Rosengart to move a scheduled September 29 hearing ahead (read the ruling here). Now, before all those #freebritney supporters start gnashing their teeth in anger, Penny’s decision might have much more to do with her busy calendar than the merits of expediting the efforts against Jamie Spears.

Interestingly, with the term “without prejudice” in there, the decision by the Lasc official does permit Britney Spears’ attorney to file again in a new attempt to shift the pivotal hearing to...

Britney Spears’ new lawyer has filed a petition to remove her father, James “Jamie” Spears, from her conservatorship, The New York Times reports.

Mathew S. Rosengart, who became Spears’ lawyer earlier this month, reportedly filed the petition in Los Angeles probate court Monday, July 26th, although it was not made immediately available to the public. Rather, the petition was mentioned in a separate public filing that sought to name a replacement for Jamie Spears.

The public filing requested that Jason Rubin, a certified public accountant in California, be named as the conservator of Spears’ estate.

Updated with latest: Britney Spears’ new lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, made good on his promise to take action to remove her father’s oversight of the singer’s life.

On Monday according to multiple reports, Rosengart filed a petition on the singer’s behalf with Los Angeles Superior Court asking for a Cpa to be named the new conservator of her considerable estate, which is listed in the filing as including including cash assets of $2.7 million and non-cash assets of more than $57 million. If approved, forensic Cpa Jason Rubin will replace Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, who has controlled her money and much of her life since 2008.

The filing asks the judge to give Rubin “the power and authorization to pursue opportunities related to professional commitments and activities including but not limited to performing, recording, videos, tours, TV shows, and other similar activities as long as they are approved by the conservator of the person,...

Britney Spears is moving forward with her wish to break free of her father, Jamie Spears. The singer and her lawyer have filed legal documents to officially remove Jamie as the conservator of her estate, and Britney has nominated professional fiduciary Jason Rubin to be her new financial conservator, according to the July 26 petition obtained by E! News. Jason, who is licensed by the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau, is also a certified public accountant and works with Certified Strategies, Inc, according to the filing. He has experience overseeing assets worth more than $35 million, per his website. "Our personnel are bondable California licensed Professional Fiduciaries and...

Grab a revolver or a barbed-wire-wrapped bat: A new game based on “The Walking Dead” has landed on Facebook.

“The Walking Dead Life” is a social game built for Facebook Gaming’s Instant Games platform, letting fans experience the show’s most memorable moments, collect virtual coins, and attack friends and foes alike.

The casual game, developed by game company Playco, is aimed at promoting the 11th and final season of the long-running zombie series, which premieres Sunday, Aug. 22 on AMC.

“The Walking Dead Life” is accessible on Facebook Gaming at this link, designed to be played on mobile devices. It soft-launched on the platform earlier this spring.

In the game, players encounter fan-favorite characters like Rick Grimes, Michonne Hawthorne and Daryl Dixon. They can level up to unlock Easter eggs at various scenes and locations, including the Atlanta hospital in Season 1, Hershel’s farm and the infamous West Georgia...

“Stormland,” the next virtual reality game from the studio behind “Ratchet & Clank” and the upcoming “Spider-Man” game, is an open-world, narratively driven first-person game that drops you into the rusting body of an android gardener out to save its world.

The Oculus game is also, Oculus VP of content Jason Rubin told Variety, the sort of seachange title that could completely change the way people view virtual reality gaming.

“This is one title that could encourage people to come onto the platform,” he said. “This is a title that could radically change their view of the platform.”

In the game, due out in 2019, players take on the role of an unnamed android caretaker on a mysterious alien planet. When an entity called The Tempest arrives, shattering the android’s body and uprooting the world, the android is tasked with journeying up through layers of cloud seas to find out what happened,...

One of the most surprising games of E3 2016, Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding, will not be on stage this year when Sony presents their wares. Read Kojima's tweet below and see if you can decipher it. Plus, find out when you can see the man, himself, live and in person at E3!

When we began on the long, winding road to E3 2017, one of the games we were most excited to get an update on was Hideo Kojima's first game since Konami, Death Stranding. Alas, we aren't so lucky this year as Kojima has tweeted out that his team has decided to forego E3 2017 in favor of spending that time developing. That didn't mean Kojima, himself, wouldn't still be in attendance, though.

Apologies to our fans, Death Stranding will not be @ E3 as we are fully focused on development. Pls see me with @geoffkeighley on 6/14! pic.twitter.com/w...

Today marks the beginning of virtual reality in gaming, according to Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe. As promised, the Vr specialists hosted its own dedicated event earlier today where it unveiled the final, consumer-ready Oculus Rift.

Almost three years on from the company’s humble Kickstarter campaign, Oculus is now ready to shatter the 2D barrier standing between you and the virtual world. Touting a revised constellation tracking system, allowing for developers to experiment with seated and standing virtual reality experiences, along with an ergonomic design for better comfort, the Facebook-owned company is nearing its market launch.

On the topic of the improved Vr, Iribe states that this is largely made possible by the Oculus Rift’s sensor, which can be plugged into the back of your desktop rig in order to offer precise motion tracking. Audio also plays a major role in the immersing the user, and the company noted that the headphones are removable,...

Naughty Dog

As far as game developers go, Naughty Dog are undoubtedly up there with the best of them. First formed as Jam Software by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the company created two games for the Apple II and two for the Apple Iigs, Amiga and Dos, changing their name to Naughty Dog before the release of the latter of these, a title named Keef The Thief.

After producing a poorly received game on the Mega Drive for Electronic Arts called Rings Of Power, Gavin and Rubin’s creation of a game called Way Of The Warrior got the attention of Mark Cerny, currently known as the lead architect of the Playstation 4 but then the Vice President of Universal Interactive Studios.

Signed by Cerny to develop games for Universal, Naughty Dog expanded and came up with Crash Bandicoot. They haven’t looked back since, having made a total...

It goes without saying that Naughty Dog has become one of the most prestigious game developers in the industry. Still, it’s not always clear to gamers and fans what exactly it takes to bring the studio’s beloved titles to life. Sony is premiering a “full-length anniversary video” about Naughty Dog and its history this October at Gallery Nucleus, but in the meantime, there’s a teaser on YouTube for us to look at. 30 years is a long, long time in the video game business.

The teaser itself is actually pretty fascinating. We get to hear from founders Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, who essentially express that there’s no way they could have possibly predicted the studio’s success when they founded it at the age of fifteen. When Crash Bandicoot arrived years later and sold absurd numbers, Sony knew Naughty Dog was the real deal. The studio...

Cinedigm has promoted two key employees and hired three managers as it continues to bolster its digital credentials.

Erick Opeka has been promoted to evp of digital networks and leads the company’s over-the-top (Ott) entertainment networks business.

Formerly svp of digital distribution, Opeka is responsible for the strategic planning, launch and operation of Cinedigm’s portfolio of direct-to-consumer digital network available online, on mobile devices, gaming consoles and connected TVs.

Suzanna Lee has been named director od business development and strategy, digital networks. In her expanded role, Lee will focus on business development, including brand, distribution and content partnerships.

She will also oversee network programming with a focus on developing Cinedigm’s original content slate and most recently was responsible for transitioning Cinedigm’s documentary brand Docurama into the company’s first direct-to-consumer network. Docurama launched in May and its titles include Gasland (pictured).

The digital networks team has brought on three new hires:

Shawn Sheikh...

Focus Features has acquired Times Square, a Black List script from Taylor Materne and Jason Rubin, for director Justin Lin to helm. The crime thriller takes place during the “last days of old Times Square,” as it underwent a transition from a “seedy lawless Midtown Manhattan dump to a family-friendly corporate mecca.” With that as its setting, the plot will follow a young man who, after a secret from his past surfaces, finds that his loyalties are split between “his neighborhood boss who raised him and the grizzled ex-cop who swore to protect him.”

Unfortunately, no casting news has been announced just yet as Times Square likely won’t be shooting anytime soon. Lin is currently hard at work on filming the pilot for CBS’ Scorpion. After that, he’ll need to devote a significant chunk of time to the next entry in the Bourne series. He also has several...

Jason Rubin, co-founder of game studio Naughty Dog, had some tough love for Nintendo recently, telling website GameTrailers that the big N is “irrelevant as a hardware manufacturer in the console business.”

Rubin is not exactly an unbiased party here, as Naughty Dog’s games have basically been Sony exclusives for decades now, but when looking at the numbers it’s hard to argue with him. Sales of the Wii U have been underwhelming at best, and with the recent release of the PS4 and Xbox One, Nintendo’s latest console is getting its ass handed to it. Although reduced prices and the introduction of a Wind Waker HD bundle helped dramatically increase sales of the Wii U, it hasn’t been enough to boost it out of a distant third place in the console wars.

Rubin didn’t have all bad things to say about Nintendo, though. He did...

Feature Ryan Lambie 4 Dec 2013 - 06:53

Although described as 'irrelevant' by Naughty dog founder Jason Rubin, Nintendo's hardware is a vital part of the industry, Ryan argues...

"Nintendo once ruled games. No more." So read an arrestingly gloomy 2003 article published in Time Magazine, which described Nintendo GameCube's performance as "an unmitigated disaster".

"Nintendo has suffered such a string of bad news over the past few months," the piece read, "and posted such disappointing financial results over the past few quarters that many investors, analysts and industry watchers are wondering whether the onetime industry giant can hit restart - or at least pause - in an increasingly competitive videogame industry."

It was a gloomy portrait indeed, printed as it was just two weeks before Christmas. Nintendo was, journalist Jim Frederick argued, on a slide that had begun in the 1990s, outgunned technologically by its rivals Sony and Microsoft, and forced to...

by Joseph Leray

Deep Silver has announced a Season Pass and the first bit of downloadable content for Volition's exultantly juvenile "Saints Row IV": the previously canceled and apparently resurrected "Enter the Dominatrix" campaign.

"Enter the Dominatrix" was originally developed as a standalone expansion pack to "Saints Row: The Third" but was ultimately canceled. It would have introduced the alien abduction, virtual reality, and superhero plots that eventually got worked into "Saints Row IV."

Those events will presumably be covered in the early parts of "Saints Row IV," but "Dominatrix" will also offer a behind-the-scenes, "Director's Cut" look at how the Dlc was originally designed. Given the long road to release -- it was being developed during the early stages of former publisher Thq's implosion, after all -- it seems Volition is to poke a little fun at their own (or Jason Rubin's) expense.

During a panel during San Diego Comic-Con last week,...

Spike TV is returning to E3 this year as the exclusive broadcast partner, and they have a huge line-up of gaming coverage slated over the course of the first two days of the show. From interviews with industry heavy-hitters like Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Amie and Shigeru Miyamoto, Peter Molyneux, and Microsoft’s Phil Spencer to exclusive game previews for hotly anticipated games like “Call of Duty: Ghosts,” “Killzone: Shadows Fall,” and “Assassins Creed IV.” Plus stick around for press conferences from Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft, and Sony.

Hit the jump for the full schedule, and to watch the live stream, hosted by Gttv’s Geoff Keighley, starting today at noon.

Monday, June 10

11:50 Am Et / 8:50 Am Pt - Xbox Pre-show With Exclusive Reveals!

E3 stars early on Spike and Gt as we kick off our coverage from our new studio at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. Our countdown to...

With the news that Saints Row IV would contain some of the “elements” from the canceled Saints Row The Third - Enter The Dominatrix standalone expansion, many fans have started to question if the upcoming sequel is actually its own game or something akin to a “Saints Row 3.5“. Volition has since clarified that work on Saints Row IV started “about two months” before SR3 was completed, and it was a whole other team that split off to develop Dominatrix.

“We had to go in and totally gut the [Enter The Dominatrix] story for Saints Row IV. Everything that was the missions or the story we did for Dominatrix was totally thrown out,” Volition’s creative director, Steve Jaros, told Joystiq at Pax. “All the voice recording that we did all thrown out. We redid the entire story. The game is mission wise the same length as Saints Row 3, plus other open worlds on top of it.

From Dlc expansion to full-on sequel, new publisher Deep Silver announces that "Saints Row 4" will up the car-surfing stakes on August 20 for consoles and Aug 23 for the PC.

The purple-clad Saints with superpowers? Some of this might seem familiar, I'll bet and it is: the Saints were to be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound last year as part of the cancelled "Enter the Dominatrix" Dlc for the open world action game. However, back in June, then-new Thq boss Jason Rubin explained that the features from the Vr-set "Enter the Dominatrix" would be folded into a full-fledged sequel. At the time, it was planned for a calender year 2013 release and what do you know, August is in calendar year 2013.

Rubin also described the game as "connected" last year: was there a planned co-op mode for "Saints Row 4" and did it make it into the game?

The tagline...

Even before the tumult of the Thq fire sale, it looked like "South Park: The Stick of Truth" needed more time to cook at developer Obsidian, after slipping two release dates (most recently from March 5 to sometime in fiscal year 2014). Now comes word from new publisher Ubisoft (in an interview with the Canadian Financial Post) that some of their internal studios will be taking a look at the RPG based on the long-running animated series before it ever sees the light of day.

Speaking with the Post, Ubisoft Montreal boss Yannis Mallat says that "The Stick of Truth" would be entering an "analysis" phase among Ubisoft's internal teams to review Obsidian's work to date. Mallat promises that the game will be completed and released (it would be wouldn't really make sense not to, at this point) sometime in calendar year 2013. Now does this mean that Obsidian will be seeing "Stick...

While the bankruptcy auction for Thq‘s intellectual property resulted in the bulk of their more popular franchises finding new owners, there are still plenty of the company’s assets that failed to attract any bids during the process. Thq’s president Jason Rubin has spoken up about the remaining IPs — which includes the Darksiders, the uDraw tablet and games (the final straw that broke the company’s cash flow statement), and the Double Fine-developed Costume Quest, among others — revealing that there will be a second sale for those unsold assets in the near future.

Speaking to Game Informer Rubin said, “There will be a separate process to sell off the back catalog and IP. That process will take place in the coming weeks.” Rubin did not clarify if the upcoming “process” will involve individual deals, another auction, or a some combination of the two.

While will have to wait...

Darksiders II was in my "get to when things die down" pile, as I truly enjoyed my time with the original. Unfortunately, it seems I have all the time in the world to catch up, as due to Thq selling off its assets and winding down to its final days, the Darksiders IP is without a home. Also without a home is Vigil, the developer of the Darksiders franchise as well as the upcoming project Crawler (and evidently it was shaping up to be something special). While there has been a great deal of fallout from Thq's descent, there seems to be more to Vigil's story than most of the others. For those who haven't been keeping up, here's a bit of a recap on the recent goings on.

While many of the other franchises & dev teams found homes, Vigil did not, and according to an intereview with Jason Rubin...

By Joseph Leray

Thq’s bankruptcy is continuing to shake out today, as intellectual properties that fell through the cracks and weren’t bought during yesterday’s auction become hot topics of interest.

Speaking with Game Informer, former Thq CEO Jason Rubin, who took over the company in May 2012, outlined what would happen to the company’s back catalog and intellectual properties. “There will be a separate process to sell off the back catalog and IP,” he said. “That process will take place in the coming weeks.”

The Thq properties that haven’t already been bought include the “Red Faction” series, “Darksiders,” and the WWE Wrestling license.

The “Red Faction” games were being developed by Volition, Inc., which was bought by Koch Media, but the buyer only bought the developer’s “Saint’s Row” property, leaving “Red Faction” as part of Thq’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings.

Thq’s WWE license was also left unbought,...

Today the world of gaming mourns the loss of Thq, as the company has confirmed that it will close completely within weeks after selling off most of its most saleable assets. Along with those assets finding new homes, a good deal of Thq’s staff has also been laid off, as confirmed by various social media accounts, and we wish them well.

The auction of Thq’s assets lead to a number of big sales, with Koch Media, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Sega profiting from the company’s demise. Sega agreed to purchase Relic, taking Company Of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War under their banner, while Kocj Media took on Saints Row publisher Volition, as well as taking the rights to Metro.

Take-Two have taken on Turtle Rock Studios’ codenamed Evolve project, and are tipped to be taking on the WWE franchise (though this is yet to be confirmed...

After a 22 hour long bankruptcy auction that started yesterday, it has been confirmed that Thq‘s assets have been broken up among several bidders and the company will “cease to exist” as of this coming Friday.

The news was announced by a letter addressed to “All Thq Employees” from CEO Brian Farrell and President Jason Rubin, which confirmed that Sega, Koch Media, Cretek, and Ubisoft have all agreed to purchase the bulk of the company’s assets.

Thq had originally planned to sell the business as a whole to the private equity firm Clearlake Capital, however, a Judge rejected the proposed plan after creditors objected on the grounds that a sale of individual assets could result in a higher overall bid price. Today’s letter confirms that is exactly what happened, as the bid for the entire operating business fell short of the bids for Thq’s separate assets.

In the letter,...

Kotaku's Jason Schreier was able to acquire a letter to employees from Thq President Jason Rubin and CEO Brian Farrell announcing the final status of the assets sales which took place yesterday. Several whole studios have been purchased outright. While the U.S. Bankruptcy Court still has to sign off on Thq's final assessment, it looks like Relic, Volition, Thq's Montreal studio, along with the "Metro," "Evolve," and "Homefront" franchises have all found new homes. Right now, the future of Vigil ("Darksiders") remains in doubt as it's still wrapped up in the Chapter 11 proceedings.

Hit the jump for the letter and more details.

To All Thq Employees:

We now have the answers we've been seeking through our financial restructuring and Chapter 11 case. While much will be written, here are the facts of the bids and auction that occurred:

Yesterday morning, we received a competing bid for the operating business, along with Clearlake's offer,...

News Aaron Birch Dec 21, 2012

Thq’s difficulties may become a bargain money-spinner for the French publisher…

Now that Thq has filed for bankruptcy following its gradual decline, many of the company’s projects are still in motion, at least according to Thq president, Jason Rubin. However, some of Thq’s biggest IPs may be on the way to a different stable.

According to unconfirmed sources, McV has reported that Ubisoft, publisher of such big names as Assassin’s Creed, Rayman, Far Cry and Ghost Recon, is interesting in acquiring some of Thq’s assets.

The list, which is pretty much made up of Thq’s most successful IPs, includes Saints Row, Red Faction, Darksiders, and WWE would give Ubisoft a good injection of big name titles. Talks have been long, and it’s believed that Ubisoft is pushing hard for a good, cheap and chips deal, which, given Thq’s situation,...

Sad news came this week with the announcement that Thq was filing for bankruptcy. With a full slate of anticipated games coming out, many fans worried about what might happen. Jason Rubin, president of publisher Thq, has issued a statement detailing the company’s move towards bankruptcy, and explains how it's not as bad as it seems, (even though it is an unsettling industry trend).

In a deliberately causally written -and at times almost heartfelt- press release, Rubin explains where his company is now headed, and stresses there is no need for alarm. Rubin also reassures that all forthcoming Thq titles, most notably South Park: The Stick of Truth will still be available for pre-order. He also stated that future developments such as Saints Row 4 will continue as planned.

Essentially, Thq has entered ‘Chapter 11’ proceedings - a safety net for faltering American businesses, which allows a buyer to step...

Thq‘s chapter 11 bankruptcy filing yesterday was certainly not good news for the company’s debt holders, however, the actual filing turned out to be a gold mine for anyone interested in the publisher’s unannounced projects. As discovered by Polygon, the bankruptcy filing reveals a total of four unannounced games in various stages of development from four different studios.

In addition to Company of Heroes 2, Relic Entertainment is currently developing a game with the working title Atlas. The court documents do not provide any details as to what the unannounced project is, however, they do reveal that it is being planned for a 2014 release date.

What makes Atlas‘ release window so interesting is that Thq‘s projected development budget — which was also disclosed in the filing — shows that the last 21% of Company of Heroes 2‘s budget will be spent in 2015. This seems to indicate that it might be released after Atlas,...

Thq announced this afternoon that they have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and have entered into an asset purchase agreement with the private equity firm Clearlake Capital Group.

The agreement will see Clearlake acquire “substantially all” of Thq‘s assets — which includes the company’s four studios and all the current games in development — in a “stalking horse bidder” deal. This type of arrangement will have Clearlake’s bid for the struggling publisher’s assets act as the minimum that all potential buyers must meet, thereby allowing Thq to avoid any low-ball offers.

Per the Chapter 11 filing, the Nasdaq is expected to remove Thq‘s shares from the stock exchange within nine days, however, the company will be able to continue with its business operations without interruption during the sale period (pending approval by the Bankruptcy Court). During this period all of the company’s studios will remain open and development...

You may remember that Thq and Volition have been working with Guillermo del Toro on inSANE, a Lovecraftian sandbox-style video game. Sadly, it seems like the game will never see the light of day, although there is a glimmer of hope if del Toro wants to take this game to another developer.

Thq has been running into financial troubles and is looking to focus on their core Aaa properties. That means that they are cutting mobile, browser, and experimental titles, including inSANE. Here is an the official word from Thq president Jason Rubin: ”We have decided not to pursue further pre-production on Insane, and have returned all of our IP rights to Guillermo del Toro”

When pressed for additional details, Thq told Joystiq that the game “was in very early development,” and that “no teams/staff are affected by this decision.” They also said that the “rights for the...

During the company’s first quarter investor’s call last night, Thq’s new president Jason Rubin revealed that they have decided to stop pre-production on Guillermo del Toro‘s horror game, InSane.

Rubin broke the news to investors, saying:

“We have decided not to pursue further pre-production on InSane, and have returned all of our IP rights to Guillermo del Toro. By canceling these explorations outside of our core business, we feel we can improve focus on our core game portfolio, which remains unchanged.”

InSane was first announced way back in December 2010, and was being developed by Volition for a planned 2013 release. While it wasn’t directly stated by Rubin, the game’s stated “pre-production” status seems to suggest that Guillermo del Toro had not made a lot of progress in the last two years towards meeting InSane‘s 2013 launch window.

In happier Thq news, after months of restructuring,...

The following news was based on the Q&A interview from Game Informer’s Issue #232 :

Jason Rubin, co-founder of Naughty Dog was brought into joining Thq by the company’s CEO, Brian Farrell after stating his opinion on how Thq ran their teams. As the new president of Thq, Rubin hopes to help out the teams in need of assistance as and guide them in creating the best games possible. He also wants to work on the quality of titles rather than their quantity.

Rubin has no intention on reconstructing Danny Bilson’s vision; instead he has plans to make minor modifications on certain titles that can still be changed. Games like Darksiders II came to him as a project that was near completion and not something he sees in making drastic changes in. For the titles yet to be molded, Rubin finds that they need to be driven...

Now that we are nearing the dawn of Darksiders II, questions surrounding the fate of the franchise have once again surfaced. Thq boss Jason Rubin has previously announced his ambivalence towards making this a trilogy, but Vigil Games themselves seem to believe that success will ensure a second sequel.

In an interview with VideoGamer, Haydn Dalton, the lead designer of Darksiders II, suggested that it is rather unlikely that Thq would move them (Vigil Games) over to another franchise if their soon to be released sequel sells:

“If Jason’s [Rubin, President, Thq] sat there and we go and sell 4 or 5 million units, I’m pretty sure he won’t say, ‘Let’s go and do something different now’. Maybe what he might do is turn around and say, ‘We’ll do another Darksiders game, but we’ll try and reduce the scope so that we can make it even higher polished’. Because our scope is huge.

Thq‘s previously-announced Saints Row: The Third stand-alone expansion, Enter the Dominatrix, has become something more. Instead of releasing this fall, with a thirty dollar price tag, the new content will be incorporated into the hilarious series’ next full sequel. As of right now, that project is aptly titled “The Next Great Sequel in the Saints Row Franchise,” which is telling. Then again, the publisher has a lot to be confident about after Saints Row: The Third ended up being one of the most entertaining games of 2011 and, in my opinion, of all-time.

The company’s new head, Jason Rubin, has shed some light on the situation:

“When I looked at the Enter The Dominatrix expansion in production at Volition, I was blown away by the ideas and desire to expand the fiction of the franchise,” said Jason Rubin, Thq’s President. “I asked the team what it could achieve given more time,...

The super powered "Enter the Dominatrix" expansion will just have to be ridiculously over-the-top in the just-announced sequel to Saints Row: The Third.

The expansion, which was going to offer your character superhero-level abilities in the open city of Steelport has been nixed according to an announcement from publisher Thq, and its contents worked into the currently unnamed next Saints Row retail title which we should expect sometime next calendar year.

Here's Thq president Jason Rubin (who recently had to walk back/clarify his assessment of the Saints Row franchise) on the cancellation:

I asked the team what it could achieve given more time, more resources, and a broader scope for the project. We all agreed we wanted to play that game. When it comes to Saints Row, it’s clear our fans want bigger, better, and even more over the top, and that’s why Enter The Dominatrix will...

This calendar day has brought with it some bad news for fans of the Darksiders series, as it seems like August’s Darksiders II could be its last hurrah.

During an interview with The Verge, Thq‘s newly-appointed boss, Jason Rubin, voiced his disinterest in continuing Vigil Games‘ ongoing story regarding the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Why? Well, he seems to figure that the studio has better ideas to offer. At least, that’s what I get from the following quote:

“Darksiders II is very interesting but I think I can get that team to make other very interesting games,” Rubin said.

It’s disappointing to hear that one of my favourite franchises may not continue after its second release; especially when four different stories were supposed to combine to tell one epic tale. The first Darksiders game was greatly underrated and under-appreciated, so I can only hope that...

Top Cow Productions has released a teaser for a new project, Mysterious Ways. The image shows pictures of nine infamous murderers - including John Wayne Gacy, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer - with the caption, "Who will be our saviour?" Writer Jason Rubin and artist Tyler Kirkham's title was announced at Comic Con International last year. Its first issue appeared in the First Look trade paperback last October. "Mysterious Ways is a story that follows a brutal yet reluctant serial killer convinced that he is doing God's work by wantonly slaughtering innocent women," said the publisher in its solicitation. (more)...

Our friends at Top Cow have sent us their list of comic solicitations for May, 2010 and because we know you are comics fans and also enjoy some Top Cow titles, we’ve included them for your advanced planning needs. And we’ve also got some cool cover images for you as well. Be sure to check those out after the jump.

Meantime, take a look at the comics coming in May from the official press release:

Velocity is off to the races!

May 2010 Checklist

Velocity #1 Ron Marz/Kenneth Rocafort $3.99

Angelus #5 Ron Marz/Stjepan Sejic $2.99

Pilot Season: Stellar #1 Signed Robert Kirkman/Marc Silvestri/Bernard Chang $19.99

Broken Trinity: Pandora’s Box #4 Rob Levin/Bryan Edward Hill/Alessandro Vitti/Tommy Lee Edwards $3.99

Pilot Season: Hardcore #1 Signed Robert Kirkman/Marc Silvestri/Brian Stelfreeze $19.99

The Darkness #85 Phil Hester/Sheldon Mitchell/Aaron Campbell $2.99

Pilot Season: Stellar #1 Sketch Variant Robert Kirkman/Marc Silvestri/Bernard Chang $10.00

Magdalena #2 Ron...

Bundle of Joy For moms worried about exposing their newborns to chemicals, Belli Skincare has a line of shampoos and lotions considered 100% safe for both babies and their mommies. Their new Bundle of Joy Gift Set ($32) contains travel-size bottles of hair/ body wash and body lotion, talc-free powder and diaper rash cream, all made with the gentlest ingredients, free of artificial dyes, parabens or fragrances.

Dr. Jason Rubin, a family doctor, first created Belli in 2002, together with his wife, Annette, when she was pregnant with their first child. Concerned that Annette might inadvertently absorb harmful chemicals during her pregnancy, Dr. Rubin developed an extensive screening process to avoid ingredients even remotely linked to birth defects.

In addition to the baby line of products, Belli has also introduced a Motherhood Essentials Kit ($39), made up of nursing cream, eye brightening cream, body firming serum and a hand sanitizer for new moms.

Pregnancy...

Naughty Dog co-founders Jason Rubin and Andrew Gavin have launched a new casual gaming studio named Monkey Gods. After previously creating the Crash Bandicoot and Jax and Daxter franchises, Rubin and Gavin have now joined forces with HBO media consultant Jason Kay to set up the new studio. Monkey Gods will focus primarily on casual games for social networks as well as titles for iPhone and consoles. Writing on the studio's official blog, Rubin said that it is a "new company (more)...