Who would have thought, right? It’s no secret that I have great respect and admiration for Itagaki and his games. But it’s also fairly obvious that wherever Itagaki goes, trouble will follow. The issues his new production company Valhalla Studios has had with THQ aren’t quite the same as the trials and tribulations Itagaki had with Tecmo, but depending on where he goes from here, they may end up being much worse. Sadly, THQ has stated that they are ditching the Devil’s Third project and are currently trying to pawn it off on another publisher.
THQ president Brian Farrell had this to say about the whole debacle: “Two ‘unforeseen’ events reduced Devil’s Third‘s profitability. The company Valhalla was using for the engine went out of business, so we had to assist Itagaki-san and the team with a new engine. It took a fair amount of time and cost a fair amount of money. There has also been a substantial appreciation of the yen against the dollar.”
You’re probably thinking that it’s fairly obvious that something was up with this game, as Devil’s Third talk has been nearly nonexistent since it was unveiled in 2010. All hope may not be lost however, as Square Enix seems to love picking up action projects lately. Here’s hoping we get something soon.
THQ Abandons Devil’s Third [The Escapist]
