Take-Two to pick up THQ's WWE license, developer

Pending approval from a federal court, Take-Two has assumed publishing duties for THQ's Yuke's-developed WWE titles.

Bloomberg reports Take Two's assumption of these duties will save the bankrupt THQ by minimising impact on the WWE and Yuke's.

Court documents suggest that should the license and development agreements simply go down with THQ's slowly sinking ship, it would add at least $30 million and perhaps over $60 million to the defunct publisher's debts thanks to "very large damage claims".

The WWE has reportedly agreed to let slide claims it had on THQ for past and ongoing royalties through 2017, which amounted to over $50 million, but THQ will for over $650,000 in royalty payments for games sold while under bankruptcy protection.

On Yuke's side, the developer will reveived a $250,000 royalty payment and the return of a 14% stake THQ held in the company, but has dropped claims of up to $20 million.

The deal is still awaiting approval from a federal court, but if it goes ahead as planned, current contracts with the WWE and Yuke's will be terminated and new ones drawn up, with current THQ staff still on board the project as Take Two employees.

Take Two doesn't have much to say on the matter at present.

"We can confirm that we have entered into an agreement to publish the WWE video game series that is developed by Yukes," the publisher told Polygon.

"At this time, the agreement is pending court approval and we anticipate that it will be finalized shortly. We are very excited about the potential of this agreement and will have more to share at the appropriate time."

WWE games will presumably be published under Take Two's 2K division, perhaps through 2K Sport, which has an excellent reputation for quality sports sims.

Take-Two's acquisition of the license was rumoured when other THQ assets were sold, but had not been confirmed until today.