THQ: “We Don’t Suck”

In an interview with GI, Danny Bilson, executive vice president of THQ’s core titles, has defended recent staff cuts across the THQ company. “We shut down a lot of studios and laid off a lot of people – 550 – in product development so that others might live,” said Bilson. “The studios that lived through that didn’t get hit at all and they got more money in order to get to quality. The guys who are left didn’t feel the pinch at all.”

Bilson now believes THQ are leaner and most efficient and the cuts were in the best interest of the company.

“We spent millions more on Red Faction: Guerilla at a time when we were closing and contracting all over the place because we have to win in the end. “A team that’s in the toilet can rebuild… We’re willing to take on risk, so you’re seeing giant leaps up in quality as a result of radical change,” he said. “We were driving to E3 to show to the world that we don’t suck… And not only do we not suck, but we exceed and we’re going to compete with the biggest and the best because our games in that category are fully resourced with very talented teams. You can see the results.”