THQ abandons Guillermo del Toro's InSane

Struggling publisher THQ has announced that it has cancelled pre-production on inSane, the ambitious horror game project created in partnership with Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro. Originally announced at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, InSane was planned as a trilogy of AAA horror games from Saints Row developer Volition. With the project no longer in development, THQ has handed the IP rights back to del Toro. Considering THQ's business strategy of late, this move is not all that surprising, as the publisher has been aiming to scale down its business to focus only on games that are likely to find success. During an investor conference call today, THQ president Jason Rubin said that in addition to dropping inSane, the company has also decided not to pursue any Facebook or casual mobile games, reaffirming its commitment to large-scale console titles. "By canceling these explorations outside of our core business, we feel we can improve focus on our core game portfolio," Rubin said. Of course, these aren't the first cuts to come from THQ over the past few months. Early this year, the company decided to exit the licensed kids' game business, and in May it dropped Devil's Third, the third-person action game from former Ninja Gaiden director Tomonobu Itagaki. In addition to dropping InSane, THQ announced that it saw better-than-expected revenues for its fiscal first quarter, thanks in large part to sales of older titles like Saints Row The Third, WWE 12, and UFC Undisputed 3.