THQ Announces Global Publishing Rights to "Juiced" Franchise
CALABASAS HILLS, Calif. - Oct. 8, 2004 - THQ® Inc. (Nasdaq:THQI) today announced exclusive worldwide publishing rights to the "Juiced" franchise, the highly anticipated street racing property by Juice Games. THQ submitted the winning bid for the property, which was approved on October 6, 2004, by an order of the U.S. bankruptcy judge overseeing the Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings of Acclaim Entertainment. Acclaim Entertainment had previously held the rights to the "Juiced" property. Subject to final contract and certain closing conditions, THQ plans to release "Juiced" for the PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® videogame system from Microsoft and PC in summer 2005.
"We are very excited to have secured the rights to this strategic, highly sought after intellectual property," said Jack Sorensen, executive vice president of worldwide studios, THQ. "The team is off to a great start and now has the time to build `Juiced' into one of the premier brands in street racing."
Early critical praise for "Juiced" includes:
"`Juiced' has just as many options, goodies, and features as the highest-profile driving games do and, in several other ways, outperforms." - PSM, November 2004
"Racing fans have a lot to look forward to with `Juiced.' The racing is great, with extremely realistic physics, intelligent opponent AI, and controllable teammates. All of the cars are well represented, as well, and the game looks as good as any other racer in the foreseeable future. You've just gotta respect that." - gamespy.com
About THQ
THQ® Inc. is a leading, worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms including PC CD-ROM, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Nintendo and Microsoft. The THQ web site is located at www.thq.com. THQ and the THQ logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc.
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the business of THQ Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as "THQ"), including, but not limited to, expectations and projections related to the rights, release and features of "Juiced," and are based upon management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by management. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, economic, competitive and technological factors affecting the operations, markets, products, services and pricing of THQ. Unless otherwise required by law, THQ disclaims any obligation to update its view on any such risks or uncertainties or to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements. Readers should carefully review the risk factors and the information that could materially affect THQ's financial results, described in other documents that THQ files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal period ended March 31, 2004, and particularly the discussion of risk factors that may affect results of operations set forth therein. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.