THQ Inc. was an American video game publisher founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally operating as a toy company before entering the video game business later that year with the acquisition of Brøderbund Software’s video game division.[1] The company became publicly traded in 1991 through a merger with Trinity Acquisition Corporation.[2] THQ filed for bankruptcy in December 2012, and its assets were sold at auction in early 2013.[3]
Design and History
THQ’s most significant visual identity change came on January 12, 2011, when the company unveiled a new corporate logo at its New York Gamers Event.[4] The redesign was announced as reflecting the company’s commitment to a new strategic and creative vision with an enhanced visual identity.[4] THQ President and CEO Brian Farrell said at the time: “Our new logo epitomizes the change, innovation and creative growth that are the cornerstones of the new THQ.”[4]
The 2011 logo featured an upper-case “T” and a blocky, backward lower-case “H,” both in gray, followed by a curvy red stroke forming a “Q” that resembled a backward question mark.[5] The new mark replaced the previous logo, which featured block letters of “T,” “H” and “Q” slamming into each other.[6] According to Danny Bilson, THQ’s executive vice president of Core Games, the black cutouts of the company’s old logo were representative of the 11 studios that the publisher had at the time.[7]
The new logo began appearing on THQ’s product releases starting in February 2011.[4] It remained in use until the company’s bankruptcy and dissolution in 2012-2013.
Meaning and Symbolism
THQ’s name originally stood for “Toy Head-Quarters,” reflecting the company’s origins in the toy business.[1] At the 2011 logo unveiling, Danny Bilson stated that the “Q” in the new THQ logo now stood for “quality.”[8] The red Q was specifically emphasized to stress the quality of the company’s upcoming games.[9]
Typography and Design
After THQ’s bankruptcy, Nordic Games acquired the THQ trademark in June 2014 in a deal separate from the earlier bankruptcy auctions, allowing it to publish games under the THQ name.[3] In August 2016, Nordic Games rebranded itself as THQ Nordic.[10] The new THQ Nordic logo reused the old THQ logo from 2011 to 2013.[11] Lars Wingefors, founder and owner of THQ Nordic, explained: “As for the new logo design, we literally stumbled across it when browsing some art files, after we bought the THQ trademark and figured: why not?”[10]
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