The world is about to become a little less colourful.
THQ has pulled the plug on its Australian development interests, conceding that 200 jobs will be lost as a result of the closure of its two local studios. As reported by Tsumea, the businesses in question are Blue Tongue Entertainment and THQ Studio Australia. The publisher attributed its “strategic realignment” to a desire to move away “from licensed kids titles and movie based entertainment properties”.
Melbourne based Blue Tongue certainly did produce its share of licensed content, 2009’s Marvel Super Hero Squad being the most recent example. However, it was also responsible for de Blob, a delirious anti-establishment platformer aimed at gamers of all ages. The final project to emerge from the developer was this year’s multiplatform effort de Blob 2. Visitors to Blue Tongue’s website were today greeted with the bittersweet image reproduced above.
Located in Brisbane, THQ Studio Australia produced eight games in as many years, including titles inspired by licenses such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Avatar: The Last Airbender and, most recently, Megamind.
If you were involved with either studio and wish to express a view on these developments, please contact us.