THQ announced today that its shareholders and board of directors have approved a reverse split of the company’s common stock. Beginning July 9th, THQ stock will be traded at a 1-for-10 ratio, meaning that every 10 shares of company stock will be converted into one share. The process is an effort by THQ to prevent being delisted by NASDAQ , which requires companies to maintain a share price of $1.00 or higher for 10 consecutive days.

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As a result of the reverse split, THQ’s 68.5 million shares of stock will be converted to 6.9 million, raising the value of each share in order to meet NASDAQ’s requirement before the cut-off date of July 23rd (at which point THQ’s stock would no longer be listed if it failed to meet the $1.00 minimum). According to today’s NASDAQ listing , THQ stock closed at $0.53 per share, which fails to meet NASDAQ’s minimum. If this were after the reverse split, each share would have been worth $5.30.What does this mean for THQ’s future? Simply put, it’s a last-ditch effort to maintain the company’s value, and even THQ isn’t positive it will be a permanent solution. “There can be no assurance that the reverse stock split will have the desired effect of raising the closing bid price of THQ’s common stock to above $1.00 per share to meet this requirement,” the publisher said in a statement. Despite the negative stigma attached to a reverse split, THQ CEO Brian Farrell actually believes this could be the first step on the troubled company’s road to recovery."We want to show the shareholders that the heavy lifting is done," Farrell told Gamasutra . "The last six months have been an exercise in great pain and suffering. We feel like we're getting there. We've taken a lot of negative things in the press – and frankly a lot of that was deserved. This company has changed. We have strong, new leadership. Look at our fourth quarter earnings. It's starting to come together."Indeed, THQ has faced quite a bit of trouble in the past year, including multiple rounds of layoffs that followed a change in focus and persistent rumors of the company’s demise . Farrell himself took a 50% pay cut earlier this year , following the weak sales of uDraw tablets , which brought in $100 million less than expected.But, as Farrell said, THQ is taking big steps toward recovery -- or at least trying to. The publisher recently replaced its president , hiring on Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin in place of former president Danny Bilson. During E3, THQ lost its license for UFC fighting games to rival EA , but when IGN spoke with Rubin, he said this is a good thing for the company.“This was a necessary thing for THQ,” Rubin told IGN . “It’s essential for THQ to focus on in its future. We are doing the things that are necessary to move forward. I think at this point, as far as development goes and as far as teams go we are the perfect size to go forward.”It’s unclear where THQ will go from here, but as we’ve noted before, the company will be sorely missed if it goes bust . For now, the reverse split buys THQ time until its upcoming slate of titles can hit stores. Darksiders II is coming on August 14th and WWE ’13 on October 30th . Several titles will follow in 2013 including Company of Heroes 2, Metro: Last Light, South Park: The Stick of Truth and a new Saints Row sequel that’s currently in development THQ is also slated to release the newly-restructured Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium and Homefront 2, which is currently in development at Crytek For more on THQ’s decision, be sure to read the company’s statement regarding the reverse stock split

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN