THQ cancels InSANE trilogy

Director Guillermo Del Toro’s InSANE trilogy has been scrapped, publisher THQ has revealed, with all rights to the IP returned to the Pacific Rim producer.

The news broke during THQ’s quarterly financial briefing, where the company’s president, Jason Rubin, also revealed the publisher’s intention to shutter development of Facebook and mobile games.

Said Rubin: “By cancelling these explorations outside of our core business, we feel we can improve focus on our core game portfolio, which remains unchanged.”

The executive went on to express high hopes for Darksiders 2, which he has already put 30 hours into without tackling any side quests. Elsewhere, Saint’s Row: Enter the Dominatrix is also expected to pull in the punters.

“I think it will be a Saint’s Row 4. I think it will have as good sales, if not better sales than the last one,” he said.”

In terms of numbers, THQ posted a net income of $15.5 million compared to last year’s $38.4 million loss. Net sales reached $38.5 million, eclipsing the company’s forecast of $25-30 million. Having said that, the number represented a steep decline over last year’s mammoth $141.2 million.

Looking to the future, THQ has a number of high-profile games in the pipeline, including the aforementioned Darksiders 2 this month, Company of Heroes 2, Metro: Last Light, and South Park: The Stick of Truth.