Who on earth thought the IP could be acquired for $50,000?
I don't know how much this sort of thing is worth, but there hasn't been a homeworld game in almost a decade. Obviously THQ didn't think it was worth much (or else not enough to start a game with it or be worth selling before the bankruptcy made it necessary). I can see how someone might make the mistake.
A AAA game is an enormous investment, to the point where they could value an IP at millions of dollars and still not value it enough to make a game with it.