For those who don't know, THQ is not doing so well. Their stock is on the verge of being de-listed from the NASDAQ Stock Exchange because they have been trading under $1.00 per share for several months.
On January 31, 2012 they were warned by NASDAQ that if they continue having a Stock Value below $1.00 per share they will be de-listed. They were told they have Six (6) Months to get their stock price up or they will be de-listed, which is currently set for July 23rd.
Recently, THQ has announced plans to do a Reverse-Stock-Split so that they can increase their stock price above the $1.00 needed. They must maintain the $1.00 or more Share Price for Ten (10) Consecutive Days to avoid being de-listed.
Doing a Reverse-Stock-Split means that they will take their existing shares and consolidate them. Their current plans are either 1:3, 1:5 or 1:10. This means that for a Stock Holder every 3, 5 or 10 shares that they own will forcefully turn into a Single Share. Example: If you own 100 shares of THQ and they do a 1:5 Reverse-Stock-Split then you will only have 20 shares, but the price/value of the stock should increase respectively.
Doing this removes a lot of the stock that is already out there, which can cause Investors to become uneasy and many may decide to pull-out and not be apart of it. When a company does a Reverse-Stock-Split it usually means they are in dire straits, and the fact that THQ just posted a near-$250 Million Loss for their May, 2012 Fiscal Year End does not bode well for the company.
Honestly, I think THQ is in very big trouble. If they are de-listed from the Stock Market, their company will be in major trouble and could spell the beginning of the end for THQ. Even if they are able to do the Reverse-Stock-Split they will still face stiff criticism from Share Holders and could further damage their image. After posting so many losses quarter-after-quarter, even if they manage to get their stock to several dollars, it will immediately plummet again as they're not showing any profits and so many deep losses, ultimately putting them back in this position but in an even worse way.
This month will prove tremendously pivotal to the future of THQ. I honestly would like to see THQ get de-listed, as it will send a message to other companies that they need to treat consumers better and release higher-caliber games that satisfy the communities desires. The sad part is people will likely be Laid-Off and out of work, something that is truly horrible and was caused by the Top-Execs getting way too greedy.
A meeting with investors is scheduled for June 29 to attempt to come up with a solution. Let's see how it rolls out.
I hope things goes well, if so...I guess we have to wait till Jesus returns to have Homeworld 3. Anyway fanboy rant aside, this is an example where short term profiteering and catering like you said to money and mainstreaming gets you. Short term goals lead to short term success as I know it. Again keep it up.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand is why Corporations seem to have changed their priorities big-time to focus on s simply profiting at any cost, a cost that usually boils over to the Gamers.
DeleteThe massive Greed that's taken over is getting waaaay out of hand. I think gone are the days where you would purchase a game because it looked awesome to you and had amazing gameplay with a good story.
Games are being released as "Cookie Cutter Design" now; every game is pretty much the same mind-numbing action that we've had for decades.
Game companies and even, sadly, a lot of Gamers, are still stuck in the 80's and 90's when things like FPS's and Action Games were new and amazing simply because there wasn't anything like them before.
Now, games are just constant running and gunning with nothing else to back it up, like Max Payne 3 where you got to enjoy the great gameplay gunfights but also had the proper and appropriate amounts of story and depth. Games like Heavy Rain are a great thing, even if it's more of an interactive movie than a game.
To me, Story is #1 and Gameplay is #2 as the most important things; Graphics should be the least of anybody's priorities. Having great features that make a game fun and enjoyable don't have to be "innovative" or "unique" to be great, as those just help breed crap like Kinect and Motion-Controls.
While I am not against motion controls fully, as I think head tracking with helmet vison might be interesting to try. I agree that games are becoming cookiee cutter. Infact, with research into the goals of EA and Activision you will literally hear them say that any game that cannot be exploited yearly is not worth it. Also, you will hear them say things like innovative ideas often times are way to risky and it better to go with what works.
DeleteThe binding issue here is stupid consumers and bad business ethics (which are a joke anyway). what i find disturbing is back around 2005 EA CEO stated that he felt it was unfair that people could be the game for free. Stating further that we should pay to beat the game, because when one beats the game he stops playing it. I cannot seem to find the article, however we see this happening with Mass Effect 2 with the arrival DLC which in my opinion should have been the ending to ME2.
Story and Gameplay I do not think I can say anything about them now. I feel as if every game's story is either to linear (some have to be) or very identical in formula and very predicable. They also seem to never let you think, god forbid have continuity between the games themselves (Looks at Halo worse continuity ever). It is very sad that even gameplay seem so 2 dimensional and unwilling to explore new avenues and what not.