THQ to Publish Microsoft GBA Titles

[piku]

So much for the Xbox...


THQ today has announced an exclusive deal with Microsoft that will have them publishing Game Boy Advance ports of their hit PC and Xbox titles worldwide. The first games announced as part of the deal are Monster Truck Madness 2.0 and Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee.

"Microsoft Game Studios has created several innovative game franchises that have met with tremendous success among PC and Xbox gamers," stated Germaine Gioia, vice president, licensing, THQ. "This unique deal augments our longstanding leadership position in handheld gaming with an additional pipeline of great gaming content for the Game Boy Advance system."

"Our partnership with THQ provides an exciting licensing opportunity to introduce some of Microsoft Game Studios' best-selling franchises to new and broader audiences worldwide," said John Jordan, Director of Xbox Business Development at Microsoft Game Studios. "THQ has a stellar reputation for game development, and we look forward to working with them to bring Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee(TM), Monster Truck Madness 2.0 and other best-selling franchises to the hand-held platform."

"We always look for expansion opportunities for our games, and hand-held platforms provide a great opportunity to capture a new worldwide audience," said Ed Ventura, Director of PC Business Development at Microsoft Game Studios. "By working with THQ, we introduce Game Boy Advance into the platform mix for our titles, giving consumers another opportunity to experience our award-winning products and franchises."

[Brotherman]

Pretty smart move on Microsoft's part. They get a little extra money to help offset XBox costs, and they get a new portal through which to introduce gamers to many of the XBox's franchises that they normally wouldn't have gotten to try because they wouldn't have bought the system. Depending on the titles they release, it could even draw some interest to the system. Well, for now we'll just wait and see what happens.