Sluggish sales forced THQ into crisis mode late last year: the game publisher shut down or spun off seven of its studios and laid off about 600 people. The goal was to slash about $220 million in costs for its fiscal year 2010; with that achieved, THQ (NSDQ: THQI) is now announcing a major reorganization: it’s grouping personnel into three business units, each with a leader that will report to President and CEO Brian Farrell.

Moving forward, THQ’s three divisions will focus on Core games (like 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, pictured); Kids, Family and Casual Games; and Online. The execs heading up each division are from in-house: former SVP of creative development Danny Bilson, will be EVP of Core Games; former SVP and manager of THQ Wireless Doug Clemmer, will serve as EVP of Kids, Family and Casual Games; and former SVP of product development in Asia Pacific Steve Dauterman, will be SVP of Online. The new Online division will work the other two units to help integrate features like multi-player functionality and compatibility with platforms like Xbox Live into their games.

THQ also promoted Ian Curran, its EVP of international, to EVP, global publishing. Curran, who will oversee global sales, distribution and marketing, will also report directly to Farrell. In a statement, Farrell said the new structure gives each team “full profit and loss responsibility” for their individual units. Release.

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