THQ Loses CFO, Gains Mysterious Financial Backer

THQ, if you didn't know (hint: you did), is in some rather deep water. Not only has it opted to delay a whole mess of games in the wake of Darksiders II's not-quite-megaton splash, it's also in a teensy bit of debt. By which I of course mean $50 million - using "teensy bit" as a term relative to all the money ever printed in the whole of human history. But things may not be quite as dire as they seem. Sure, another high-level exec - this time CFO Paul Pucino - has decided to skedaddle, but apparently someone with a fair deal of monetary sway might very well have THQ's rapidly breaking back.

As of now, THQ has until January 15, 2013 before Wells Fargo breaks out the baseball bats and starts seeking its loan money, and a lack of major releases means the publisher can't simply generate much-needed cash on its own. Hope, then, rests almost entirely on the shoulders of a particularly generous potential donor. Specifically, THQ claims that it's "entered into exclusive negotiations with a financial sponsor regarding financing alternatives."

Which isn't really very specific at all. But naturally, THQ can't name any names just yet, seeing as it'd just look silly if the deal fell through. And also it'd probably be completely devastating from a legal standpoint or whatever.

Regardless, here's hoping for the best. The once impressively sizable publisher's struggling, but not for a lack of great games. Darksiders II was as strong as a skull-faced man with American football teams for biceps, and the likes of Metro: Last Light, Company of Heroes 2, Saints Row 4, and Obsidian's South Park RPG are still on the way. Also, there's Homefront, but the main problem with Homefront is that it is Homefront.

But goodness, if most of those games never see the light of day or undergo major reworkings in the hands of other publishers, I'm pretty sure my heart will violently shatter into a million pieces, sending dagger-like bits of shrapnel into many innocent bystanders. And I don't think anyone wants that.