It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to report any positive news about publisher THQ, and today’s latest does nothing to change that. During the recent holiday season THQ was dropped from NASDAQ listings. The reason? NASDAQ rules require that a listed company’s stock maintain a value of at least $1 per share. On December 19, the day THQ announced that it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company’s stock dipped to $0.36 per share. It currently trades at $0.22 per share.

So what happens now? For the moment, THQ will continue to be traded on other stock markets, specifically over-the-counter markets that operate via telephone and Internet, instead of a trading floor. Once the company’s bankruptcy proceedings conclude however, THQ will become a privately-owned company with no stock to speak of. The firm’s stated goal is to slowly work its way back up to prominence from its newly-humble status, and being a privately-owned video game publisher would allow it to take more risks and be an undeniably more agile company. It would obviously have less money available, but there are worse places to start ones re-ascent to the top of the gaming world.

Whether THQ will succeed in its mission or not is anyone’s guess. The good news though is that even if THQ completely dies off, the company’s intellectual properties are too valuable to really vanish for too long. Saints Row and Darksiders games will be made by somebody, somewhere, and fans of the WWE will never have to worry if there’s a company out there willing to throw together a virtual wrestling game. That said, we’ve previously applauded THQ’s attempts to avoid lay-offs throughout its financial struggles and hope that the company can maintain that stance. We’ll bring you more on THQ’s status as it emerges.