Sega just filed a claim under the Delaware US Bankruptcy court for administrative expenses for the Steam preorders of Company of Heroes 2. This claim was filed against defunct developer THQ, to the tune of $ 941,710.93.
Just earlier this year, Sega acquired Relic Entertainment, and along with it rights to the Company of Heroes IP, under the auction of THQ assets following the company's bankruptcy filing. Development on the game continued as usual and the game went through open and closed beta before finally releasing just last June 25. The game managed to hit the Top 10 in the UK charts upon release.
The claim asserts the amount represents revenue THQ earned from preorders of the game from September 2012 to January 24, 2013, totaling $ 1,345,301.29. After Valve's 30 % cut is taken into account, they arrived at the $ 941,710.93 amount. Sega wants to prioritize payment of $ 508,877.85, the amount Valve paid to THQ after it filed for bankruptcy protection on December 19 last year.
THQ earlier hoped bankruptcy filing would allow them to regroup after getting purchased wholesale by Clearlake. Unfortunately, Delaware's bankruptcy court Judge Mary Walrath rejected the proposal, after determining other bidders were not given sufficient time to counter Clearlake's bid and that the company would be able to raise more money for shareholders by selling its assets individually. Aside from Sega, other companies that acquired THQ assets include Nordic Games (Darksiders, Red Faction), 2KGames (WWE), Gearbox Software (Homeworld), and 505 Games (Drawn to Life).