Strategy Informer  

THQ has officially lost its connection to Tomonobu Itagaki's upcoming Devil's Third, which means the rights to the IP return to Valhalla Game Studios. THQ will not be publishing it.

The Ninja Gaiden creator confirmed the rights have returned to him and the team. The most important thing is "gamers' happiness," said Itagaki-san. Valhalla "can't thank THQ enough."

Despite the split there are no hard feelings. The game is in its "final stage now," confirmed Itagaki-san. The studio needs to "spend a great deal for advertisements" to sell it.

THQ "wasn't fit" to tackle the project's expenditure, he said. "Most important thing is gamers' happiness. And people in business side like distributers and presses. And developers. It's a Happy Three. So we can't thank THQ enough. Anyway, we now own the Devil's Third IP," Valhalla founder Tomonobu Itagaki told Famitsu.

"Devil's Third development is in its final stage now, and is most expensive in this term. In the West, we need to spend a great deal for advertisements - as much as development cost - to sell a lot."

"They didn't want to part with this IP, but we all have to see into the future and at last they did, for us."

"We were anguished and they were really kind to us. Mr. Danny Bilson was searching for a way to work together until the very end. I do appreciate him and THQ managers that signed the transfer contract," he added.

Devil's Third began development in 2009 with a reveal in 2010. There have been bumps in the road for Valhalla Games, such as their middleware provider going broke and forcing the development team to switch engine tech. At present there is no release window for Devil's Third.

Source: Eurogamer

Related games: Devil's Third (Xbox360), Devil's Third (PS3)