Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time. After struggling for quite some time, publisher THQ has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That means they've begun the process of selling off all their assets in order to save the company, and a buyer has already emerged in private investment firm Clearlake Capital. But what does that mean for us, the gamers? Well, according to a statement from THQ, absolutely nothing: "Consumers and retailers should see no changes while the company completes a sale."

Update: Game spy reports THQ President Jason Rubin's put out a statement clarifying what all the biz-speak means. In short: don't panic because of James Bond and The Hobbit.

Clearlake has agreed to acquire all of THQ's assets, and that means, barring some disaster, we should still see the likes of South Park: The Stick of Truth, Metro: Last Light, and Company of Heroes 2 on their scheduled release dates. "All of the company's studios remain open, and all development teams continue," THQ said in a statement. "The company remains confident in its existing pipeline of games."

I've long had a lot of respect for THQ's boldness in picking games to publish, so it's too bad that they weren't rewarded with higher sales. Even if many of their games haven't been perfect, you could always expect something interesting. And hopefully, we'll keep seeing that in the future.

THQ Bankruptcy - some games remain on track though