It's unfortunate that Rubin came on so late in this process. I think he has some good ideas and represents the publisher well, but when the money runs out, there's not much you can do. I think that Rubin did an admirable job in selling THQ's lineup to a potential buyer during the call, basically saying that there are winners for the taking as long as someone can pony up some cash.
Reading over it hes very much making the case that if he gets the money he can sell these games and turn the company around off the back of this.
Sad to hear this:
Having said that, Darksiders 2 did not perform to our expectations or live up to its generally favorable reception. Observing this and other recent industry releases, one is left with a firm understanding that in the current marketplace, only the absolute top tier of releases is making impact on the game consumer. I now have an opportunity to start impacting our next slate of products and positioning them to compete in this marketplace.
Their just getting squeezed out of the market and have no 'big IP' like the other big players.
I just think that buying the company as a whole is not a good prospect, its value lies in its different parts - collected together I struggle to see how 'THQ' adds value to its own brands. Someone might take the risk, its at the end of the generation so in some ways its the best time for this to happen - theres opportunity to be had if you can get the talent in the company moving in the right direction.
Not holding a Q&A is pretty disastrous though.
Their really looking for a buyer whose willing to bet a lot of money at this stage; or who'll get a lot of value from the people at the company (can't see this myself unless a big company just happens to be looking to expand into gaming at exactly the right time).
Does seem like one of those $1 takeovers on the cards though.
