Juice Games bought by THQ

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz today, THQ has confirmed that it has acquired Warrington-based Juice Games, the studio behind last year's hit PC, PS2 and Xbox street racer, Juiced.

The THQ-published title, which was released last summer, took on rivals such as Need for Speed and Midnight Club to eventually top the charts. A PSP game, Juiced: Eliminator, is currently in development and due for a release in June.

The long term future of the franchise now looks assured - according to the Juice Games website, the developer is currently working on titles for "a new generation of console platforms", and Juiced's high sales figures make it a likely candidate.

Juiced was formed in 2003 by a group of designers, programmers and artists formerly employed by Rage. The studio's portfolio includes a range of THQ-published games for mobile phones.