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Going once, going twice! Gearbox picks up Homeworld in THQ auction
Borderlands developer plans to "preserve and assemble" new versions of RTS classics.

by Kyle Orland - Apr 22 2013, 9:40pm SAST

When the now-bankrupt THQ was broken up and sold for parts earlier this year, a few of the pieces weren't included in the deal. Chief among them was Homeworld, the classic PC real-time strategy series that THQ picked up from Sierra in 2007 and then proceeded to ignore for years.

The ownership of the venerable brand has changed hands once again today, as Gearbox Software announced it had won a secondary auction for the Homeworld IP for an undisclosed sum.

Known for well-received first-person shooters like Borderlands and critical flops like Aliens: Colonial Marines and Duke Nukem Forever, Gearbox doesn't have a single real-time strategy game under its belt. Still, Gearbox Chief Creative Officer Brian Martel said in a statement that he "has great love and respect for Relic's brilliant, fun and innovative game and [he] personally spearheaded the acquisition."

While the announcement doesn't talk about a long-awaited Homeworld 3, Gearbox says it intends to "preserve and assemble the purest form of the original acclaimed and beloved games, Homeworld and Homeworld 2, with the intent of making them accessible on today's leading digital platforms."

Gearbox's winning bid beats out a group of Homeworld fans that had organized to raise funds through an IndieGogo campaign that managed to bring in just over $13,000. Original Homeworld developer Relic Entertainment was purchased by Sega for $26.6 million in the first THQ asset auction in January.

We're still waiting on word of the results of separate auctions for former THQ properties including Darksiders, Red Faction, the MX motocross game series, Worms, Supreme Commander, and more. Overall, bids on all of these remaining properties are expected to bring in $6 to $7 million for THQ's creditors on top of the over $73 million raised in the first auction.

with the intent of making them accessible on today's leading digital platforms

StarBound wrote:Gearbox did good with Borderlands. However 2 other games haunts its legacy. Duke Nukem Forever and Aliens: CM. That already is reason enough for concern.

GreyWolf wrote:Apparently Aliens:CM suffered because Gearbox was focusing on Borderlands 2.

GreyWolf wrote:there haven't been any other good space RTS games apart form Homeworld right?

GreyWolf wrote:Apparently Aliens:CM suffered because Gearbox was focusing on Borderlands 2.

GreyWolf wrote:Correct me if I am wrong but, there haven't been any other good space RTS games apart form Homeworld right?

StarBound wrote:I believe there was a few like Nexus: Jupiter Incident.

StarBound wrote:You could maybe throw in starwars galaxies (think thats what it was called).

hamin_aus wrote:

GreyWolf wrote:there haven't been any other good space RTS games apart form Homeworld right?

Right.

rustypup wrote:sins of a solar empire