Capcom has announced that its new distributor for Australia and New Zeeland will be THQ Asia Pacific.
Under the terms of the deal, THQ Asia Pacific provide distribution, sales and marketing for all future Capcom releases. The THQ deal follows the collapse of Red Ant after the wholesale distribution went into administration.
The fall of Red Ant had thrown the Australian release list into serious doubt as a number of publishers – such as Konami to Besthesda, Midway and Capcom – each relied on the distributor’s business.
Capcom was one of the first groups to quell fears regarding its upcoming releases, quickly followed by Konami. Soon after, the senior VP of THQ Asia Pacific stated that “THQ’s Asia Pacific headquarters and namely, its Australian based IceStorm Entertainment arm, are perfectly poised to manage any viable distribution opportunity.”
Now THQ Asia Pacific finds itself preparing to launch two of the biggest games of 2009 across Australia and New Zeeland, with the launch of Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5 set for release on Feb 20 and March 13 respectively.