The two companies will be looking to bring new IP to a number of different mediums.
THQ has officially joined forces with The Random House Publishing group to form “a joint team to create and develop original intellectual properties (“IP”) for publication across multiple mediums.” The two companies are hoping to use other media to extend the life spans of their various intellectual properties and to develop new universes that can be marketed as games, books, and other products.
“Working with the incredible team at Random House, we expect to build a huge IP universe from the ground up, exploring the characters, settings, and stories of these worlds in ways that let each medium do what it does best, and giving fans a truly unequaled experience,” said THQ Creative and Business Director Lenny Brown. “We hope to make this relationship the gold standard in transmedia.”
In the past, THQ and Random House have collaborated on a series of novels inspired by various THQ games, the most recent of which was the Homefront: The Voice of Freedom, a prequel novel to last month’s Homefront. The new agreement is a bit more hands-on for both parties, and will see Random House helping with the production of “world bibles” for prospective THQ properties.
Of course, the lines between traditional media have been blurring since the advent of the Internet, and these kinds of collaborations make perfect sense if you’re looking to reach a broader audience. I wouldn’t be surprised if other game publishers pursued similar opportunities, although it will be tough to find another media company with the resources of Random House.
Source: THQ
