THQ

THQ

Founded: 1990-04

Defunct: 2013-01

T-series code: T-100

Headquarters:

	5000 N. Parkway, Suite 107, Calabasas, California, 91302, United States^[1]^[2]
	27001 Agoura Road, Suite 325, Calabasas Hills, California, 91301, United States^[3]

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THQ, Inc. (Toy Headquarters), originally styled T-HQ Inc. until 1997, is a former California-based toy manufacturer. It was founded by Jack Friedman, who had previously created LJN.

While initially set up to create toy lines, THQ entered the video game business after purchasing Brøderbund's video game division in the September of 1990. This division became T-HQ Software, until THQ pulled out of the toy market completely in 1994.

THQ rose to prominence in the 1990s, not just strictly as a third-party publisher, but as a product distributor for companies such as Midway and, from 1995 onwards, Electronic Arts^[4]. In the mid-1990s, THQ also chose to publish several of its games under different labels; Black Pearl Software (a company it had acquired in 1993^[5]) was typically seen publishing Sega software, while Malibu Games (not to be confused with the entirely different Malibu Interactive) would be used on Nintendo products.

A UK division, T-HQ International, Ltd., traded under its own banner for a short period, before reverting to a similar logo as its American parent company.

Many, but not all, early Sega games for the Game Boy Advance were co-published by THQ in the US under an agreement with Sega of America, and, starting in 2005, Sega published a number of THQ titles in Japan^[6] (before THQ set up its own Japanese subsidiary). THQ also distributed Sega products in Australia.

THQ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2013. As part of their liquidation process, THQ's subsidiary Relic Entertainment was sold to Sega^[7]. In April of that same year, Nordic Games Holding purchased all remaining properties of THQ, including many franchises owned by them. This led to their subsequent rebranding to THQ Nordic in 2016.