US publisher THQ has almost completed negotiations to sign Juice Games" street racing title Juiced, reuniting the Fund 4 Games owned title with the Acclaim-owned name - while legal clouds gather over Exclaim"s involvement. According to a statement from THQ, the court overseeing Acclaim"s bankruptcy has approved the sale of Acclaim"s holding in the franchise - thought to be the car manufacturer licenses and the Juiced brand name.
It"s also believed that the game itself, which belongs to development funding and management firm Fund 4 Games, is set to be acquired by THQ, although a Fund 4 Games spokesperson today declined to comment on details of the deal, saying only that an agreement with the publisher was close. Reuniting the brand and the game has undoubtedly been a legal minefield for THQ - at one point it"s thought that Juice Games was facing the prospect of having to rebrand the game before it could be released - but it"s still not clear whether all the pieces of the jigsaw are in place.