THQ Gives Devil’s Third Rights Back to Itagaki

For anyone who keeps up with current gaming events, it’s no secret that THQ has been in a state of rapid decline for some time now. One of the casualties of their restructuring was Devil’s Third, the latest game from Tomonobu Itagaki (formerly of Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive fame) and Valhalla Game Studios. It’s a game I’ve personally been anticipating since its announcement back in 2010. Rather than drag it into the muck with them, THQ had been looking to sell the IP to another publisher. The bad news is, they never found a buyer. The good news, however, is that the rights to the IP have simply been handed back to Itagaki and company.

Speaking with Eurogamer, THQ issued the following statement: “THQ confirms that the company will not be publishing Devil’s Third. All of the game’s IP rights have been returned to Itagaki-san and the Valhalla team.” Itagaki himself elaborated on the turn of events in an interview with Famitsu, praising THQ for “searching for a way to work together until the very end”. He also commented on the current state of the game, stating “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. But it wasn’t fit for [THQ's] mid-term plan.”

So while the game still has no release date and very little of it has still been shown up till this point, it’s nice to know that the rights to Devil’s Third belong to its creators once again. With any luck, they’ll find a more suitable distribution partner sooner rather than later and get this game released!