Random House Publishing and THQ announced a new partnership today, intended to create and establish new intellectual property for distribution across a variety of mediums.

“Working with THQ has been nothing less than a huge pleasure for us, and we have very lofty goals for where this project will go,” said Keith Clayton, director of creative development at Random House. “It's really inspiring to work side-by-side with partners who share our creative passions as well as our view on the evolution of the entertainment industry. We truly think that this is the new direction for entertainment, and we're proud to be leading the way as we provide a platform for storytellers to have their visions realized across multiple mediums.”

The first collaboration is expected to materialize as a collection of games and books, establishing a universe that could then be expanded into other media venues. Meanwhile, efforts will continue to translate THQ’s existing IP library to text, as evidenced by the recent Homefront: The Voice of Freedom prequel novel.

“This collaboration is a shining example of how we can generate interesting and exciting publishing opportunities as our various media continue to converge,” said Lenny Brown, THQ Director, Creative and Business Development, Core Games. “Working with the incredible team at Random House, we expect to build a huge IP universe from the ground up, exploring the characters, settings, and stories of these worlds in ways that let each medium do what it does best, and giving fans a truly unequaled experience. We hope to make this relationship the gold standard in transmedia.”

THQ also intends to capitalize on Random House’s IP creation and development group, Random House Worlds, to flesh out “world bibles” for prospective THQ properties.