Company of Heroes 2 preorder cash has Sega frothing at the metaphorical mouth.
Company of Heroes 2 launched and handled its preorder via Steam, and publisher Sega naturally expects to see some of that preorder cash, after Valve takes its 30% cut of course. But THQ – or more accurately, THQ subsidiary Relic Entertainment – was the one handling that side of things, and THQ has all but evaporated. Sega still expects to see its money – all $941,000 of it – and that means filing a claim in bankruptcy court. Sega is claiming priority on over half a million of that total, since that sum was paid by Valve to THQ after 19th December 2012, the day that THQ filed for bankruptcy protection.
Sega has since bought Relic, in the THQ bankruptcy asset sale. Sega probably doesn’t expect to see all its preorder cash; this claim is intended to protect it against “any forfeiture of rights it may have.” Ideally Sega would like to get paid before the other creditors, who collectively have lodged claims for more than $200 million.
Fun fact: Company of Heroes 2 preorders, from September 2012 to 24th January 2013, numbered 20,755, for a total of $1,345,301.29. Just goes to show how big a chunk of the business model preorder sales have become.
Source: Eurogamer
