The THQ properties have been up for grabs since the company reported bankruptcy, and speculation has been high wondering which companies will pick up some of the more well-known franchises.
Well it has been officially announced that Take-Two Interactive will acquire the rights to the WWE franchise, and will own the rights for the next five years, according to ESPN.
Take-Two will publish the new games under its 2K Sports label. The next game, entitled WWE 2K14, is set to be due out this fall.
Besides acquiring the rights to the franchise, Take-Two has also brought in employees who previously worked on the game at THQ, hoping that the content will be continuous with the previous games, as well as bringing in people knowledgeable of the franchise. The company has also brought in longtime WWE developer Yukes from Japan to work on the title.
“With Yukes, we have a lot of history, and we’ve been very happy with what Yukes has done in the past,” said Casey Collins, WWE’s executive vice president of consumer products. “What we’re going to do moving forward is meld Yukes with the team at Visual Concepts, so we can have the best of both worlds."
Many of the parties involved seem to be content with the decision, namely because they enjoy what Take-Two has done with the 2K Sports label, specifically with the NBA 2K series.
"The work they do, and the quality of the games they put out and how they’ve been able to grow their franchise with not only the simulation aspect of the game, but also the entertainment aspect, we thought they’d be a perfect partner,” Collins said.
In essence, Take-Two saved THQ with the WWE franchise. Otherwise the ailing company would have faced claims over $30 million.
