In a correspondence with Eurogamer, THQ has confirmed that the rights to Devil's Third have been reacquired by their developer -- the Japanese studio Valhalla, helmed by eccentric developer Tomonobu Itagaki, best known as the creator of Dead or Alive and the Xbox-era Ninja Gaiden games.

The statement from THQ explains that "All of the game's IP rights have been returned to Itagaki-san and the Valhalla team.", which essentially leaves the studio free to bankroll development themselves, or to scout another publisher as they push on to complete the game.

According to a separate statement published in the Japanese magazine Famitsu (and translated by Eurogamer), Itagaki is understanding and respectful of the THQ's decision and overtly positive about the game's future:

"Most important thing is gamers' happiness. And people in business side like distributers and presses. And developers. It's a Happy Three. So we can't thank THQ enough. Anyway, we now own the Devil's Third IP," he told Famitsu...

"Devil's Third development is in its final stage now, and is most expensive in this term. In the West, we need to spend a great deal for advertisements - as much as development cost - to sell a lot. But it wasn't fit for [THQ's] mid-term plan.

"They didn't want to part with this IP, but we all have to see into the future and at last they did, for us.

"We were anguished and they were really kind to us. Mr. Danny Bilson was searching for a way to work together until the very end. I do appreciate him and THQ managers that signed the transfer contract."

Nothing of the game itself has been seen since E3 2011, when THQ released this trailer, but it looks like we may not have heard the last of Devil's Third after all.