THQ AND GAMES WORKSHOP GROUP PLC ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE WARHAMMER® 40,000™ LICENSING AGREEMENT

Renewal Agreement Expanded to Include All Online Rights Including MMO

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., March 1, 2007 - THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Games Workshop (LSE: GAW - News) for the Warhammer® 40,000™ franchise through 2013. The agreement serves to both extend and expand upon THQ's previous agreement with Games Workshop for the Warhammer 40,000 license, which encompassed interactive rights to console and handheld systems, as well as Windows PC. Additional rights under the newly announced agreement include wireless devices and all online rights, including massively multiplayer (MMO) games. It also includes the same rights to Games Workshop's Gorkamorka and Necromunda properties.

THQ also announced that its Austin, Texas based studio, Vigil Games, is in development on the first MMO based on the Warhammer 40,000 franchise.

THQ's critically acclaimed Warhammer®: 40,000™: Dawn of War™ franchise now boasts more than 2 million units in sales worldwide with the release of hybrid expansion Warhammer® 40,000™: Dawn of War® - Dark Crusade™ last fall. The franchise has received numerous accolades since its 2004 debut, including Game of the Year and Editor's Choice Awards, in addition to selection as an Official World Cyber Games title in 2005 and 2006.

"Our success in creating Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War as a category leading Real-Time Strategy experience for PC gamers is just the beginning," said Kelly Flock, executive vice president of worldwide publishing, THQ. "The Warhammer 40,000 universe provides a richness of worlds, characters and stories and level of depth that translates perfectly to interactive experiences across multiple genres and systems. We see a lot of opportunity to build new and different games based on Games Workshop's fantastic property in the coming years, beginning with our newly announced MMO."

"We are delighted to be able to announce the extension of our very successful partnership with THQ," said Andy Jones, Head of Group Legal and Licensing for Games Workshop. "By creating such vibrant and ground-breaking games based on our long-established worlds, stories and characters, THQ can introduce the Warhammer 40,000 Intellectual Property to a whole new audience, while providing our existing Hobbyists with an exciting new way to interact with the dark and gothic universe which they already know and love."

The announcement of Nintendo’s new console certainly sounds like a boon for gamers, but what do developers think of Nintendo’s new Wii U? Vigil Games, the developer behind Darksiders II, is certainly looking forward to bringing its series over to the system.

"I think it’s cool, and the nice thing for us is that it’s compatible with what we’re doing," said Vigil general manager David Adams, when I asked him about the new system during my visit to the Austin studio for our cover story on the game in the July issue of Game Informer.

"For me personally, I love Nintendo," continued Adams. "I love Zelda. I love Mario, and I’ve never actually made a game that’s gone on a Nintendo platform, so for me that’s just awesome. I think that if you look at the Darksiders franchise, it’s a little more mature, but it has that similar aesthetic to a Nintendo game. I feel like it’s a natural fit from a gameplay and platform perspective."

Vigil also told us that they have several ideas on how to utilize Nintendo’s new controller – such as allowing players to manage inventory on the controller screen – but that many of these concepts were still in flux. "We’re not interested in any gimmicky stuff like with the Wii launch games, where it was basically like, this is exactly like a normal game except every once in a while you jab your controller at the screen to jump or something," said Vigil technical director Colin Bonstead. "I think the new system is better than the Wii controller in that it has a couple features that core games like ours can leverage and make use of."

At the very least, Vigil believes that gamers can look forward to ports to Nintendo’s new console that are not inferior to every other version of the game. When we asked Bonstead if he thought it was possible that the Wii U version of Darksiders II would be the best version of the game, he said, "Yeah, just because the hardware is more powerful and it will have some extra features that I think will actually be useful to people playing the game. With it’s controller, [the Wii U version of Darksiders II] might be the best version of the game."

We hope to get more specifics on the features that Vigil will work around Nintendo’s new controller. In the meantime, Nintendo fans can take heart that Wii U will have at least one mature action title in its roster around the time of launch.

Read about it at GameInformer.com!

THQ hinted at the sequel to Vigil Game’s breakout hit almost immediately after the success of the first title, but we knew little about Darksiders II until now.

Fans of the first Darksiders are already familiar with Vigil’s fiction – the eternal war that rages between the forces of Heaven and Hell. With Darksiders II, Vigil looks to deliver a richer experience as players  explore more dungeons, talk with a variety of NPCs, and experiment with a detailed loot system. The horseman War has been sidelined, so it’s up to his brother, Death, to travel through the world of the Abyss and attempt to restore humanity after its destruction during the Apocalypse.

Subscribers should be receiving their issues after the first day of E3. After you finish reading our cover story, keep checking back with our Darksiders II hub throughout the month, since we'll have plenty of updates that delve deeper into the experience Vigil is crafting for Darksiders II.

In addition to our 10-page cover story on Darksiders II, the July issue of Game Informer includes an in-depth first look at Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII-2, our hands-on impressions of Sony’s NGP hardware and its early games, and an extensive preview section featuring games like BioShock Infinite, Mass Effect 3, and Batman: Arkham City.

Read it directly from GameInformer.com!

Click here to begin!

Awakened by the End of Days, Death, the most feared of the legendary Four Horsemen, embarks upon a quest to restore mankind, and redeem his brother's name.

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