Sega bids high for Relic Entertainment - rumour

Sega is believed to be winning an auction for THQ subsidiary Relic Entertainment.

THQ's assets are being auctioned off today, but the process is closed to the public and most press. At present our only source of information is unconfirmed reports from NeoGAF users, but several industry insiders have expressed their belief in these reports.

Sega Sammy is believed to be the highest bidder for Warhammer 40,000 and Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment. It's a good fit; Sega is home to Total War developer The Creative Assembly, one of its most successful teams.

Reports also suggest Dead Island publisher Koch Media is leading bids for Saints Row and Red Faction developer Volition Inc.

Both companies are reasonably flush in the pocket; they may not bring in as much revenue as larger publishers, but have fewer debts and are better positioned to summon cash reserves at short notice.

Meanwhile, DDInvesting, which has closely followed the THQ bankruptcy and been the source of most public information about it, claims Ubisoft is in the running for a number of THQ's assets.

Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot expressed interest in THQ's IP as early as November. THQ has a studio in Montreal, headed by Patrice Désilets, which Ubisoft lost plenty of staff too, but there's good money riding on Ubisoft bidding for South Park: The Stick of Turth, should South Park Studios be unable to halt the auction.

Don't get too excited until we have a verified source, obviously. No word on Darksiders developer Vigil yet.