Saint's Row buyer Koch isn't "ambitious" to become the next THQ
Saint's Row was sold off to Koch Media as part of the big THQ auction last month, and CEO Klemens Kundratitz has expressed his thoughts on picking up IP and on the collapse of THQ itself. He's keen to avoid making the same mistakes as the now defunct publisher.
Just last week former THQ boss Jason Rubin - who was drafted in eight months prior to the company's collapse - reflected on how THQ might have survived had it avoided critical mistakes along the way.
Speaking with GI.biz, Koch CEO Kundratitz cautioned that his company wasn't ready to make the same mistakes, "Many people didn't really see us as a player in the industry. They didn't really understand what we're doing. I appreciate that we now get more of the spotlight with these new IPs, but, having said that, we are not ambitious to be the next THQ."
Kundratitz also gave insight into Koch, a firm that is starting to gain momentum outside of Europe thanks to recent Deep Silver hit Dead Island, which brought some familiarity to its publishing brand Deep Silver. It seems the company is poised to deliver a media attack on all fronts, "We have always tried to find our own way, and do business in a way that we believe is right for us. We don't want to copy other people's success stories.
"We are passionate about Deep Silver, and we are obviously investing significantly now, but at the same time we have a strong, value-added distribution business in Europe, which will continue to be a tent-pole in the future.
"And the third element is our film business, which we are also growing here in Europe, where we acquire film rights and we exploit them in the movies, in home entertainment and on TV. Those three elements of the business are all in a growth phase. Standing on three legs rather than one is still quite a good idea as far as we're concerned."
Koch is no small player, but it has some ways to go to match the biggest names in the business following the acquisition of Saint's Row, Metro and developer Volition Inc. How do you think the licenses will fare? Let us know below.