THQ cancels Insane, its horror video game trilogy with Guillermo del Toro.

Publisher THQ said during an investor call today that it has canceled pre-production on Insane, the company's video game in development with director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth).

"We have decided not to pursue further pre-production on Insane, and have returned all of our IP rights to Guillermo del Toro," said THQ president Jason Rubin.

Insane was previously in development at Volition Inc., the studio responsible for developing THQ's Saints Row and Red Faction franchises. The survival horror title was announced at the Spike Video Game Awards in 2010 by del Toro himself. It was originally slated for a 2013 release, planned as a trilogy of games.

"With this new series of video games, I want to take players to a place they have never seen before, where every single action makes them question their own senses of morality and reality," del Toro said in 2010. "THQ and Volition, Inc. are equally excited to make this vision of a completely new game universe into a reality."

The collaboration with del Toro was established during the tenure of former executive vice president of core games Danny Bilson, who left THQ in May. Just prior to Bilson's departure, he proclaimed that Insane was still in development.

"We have also stopped development for certain areas that are not productive for our new strategy," Rubin explained during a quarterly investor call today. "Consistent with this vision, THQ has made a few changes to previously announced projects. First, we made the determination not to pursue any casual Facebook games. Second, we will not be publishing casual mobile games, including those with Innovative Leisure. And third, we have decided not to pursue further pre-production on Insane, and have returned all of our IP rights to Guillermo del Toro.

"By canceling these explorations outside of our core business, we feel we can improve focus on our core game portfolio, which remains unchanged."

The publisher sold off rights to develop games based on UFC

THQ posted $15.4 million in net income and $133.7 million in net sales for its most recent quarter ending June 30th.