When you consider the top publishers in the video game industry right now, you probably think of companies like Activision, EA, Bethesda, etc. If you’re like me, you might not think of THQ as one of the best, but their CEO, Brian Farrell, shockingly thinks otherwise. During an interview with Industry Gamers, Brian had this to say about THQ’s place in the video game industry.
“We certainly think of ourselves as one of the big ones. We had the top selling game in March with Homefront. …There was a time, ‘Oh my gosh, THQ! You’re launching Homefront in March. It’s so crowded. You’ve got Crisis, you’ve got dadadadada…’  We were number one. We crushed the competition here and in the U.K. and in other markets that we track. So our goal is to have great products, pick our spots, where we can compete and win. We talked about how we’re going to do that with Saints Row: The Third later this year. So it’s picking your spots, having great games from great creators, and it’s not about numbers of products – it’s about bringing great products to market, marketing them as we did with Homefront and as we intend to do with the rest of these games. So when we can compete, we win.
We talked about that on our call and I think the way we like to think about this is, we undertook a brand new strategy 2 years ago and turned the company around in 2010. Last year was kind of the quiet year for us, we didn’t release a lot of products, and now we’ve got a pipeline that I think our competitors would be envious of. So I’m a competitor, I love to compete, and we intend to compete and win.”
THQ certainly is a large publisher with a lot of good projects, but I think what’s holding them back is that they’re lacking something a few of the bigger publishers have: a consistent big time franchise that keeps the media buzzing by either winning GOTY awards, or selling tens of millions of copies. Activision has it with Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. EA has it with their sports franchises, Mass Effect, Battlefield and a plethora of other long running solid franchises.
I certainly don’t want to take anything away from THQ, because they have some good IP’s, but they’re not quite at the same level as the industry leaders; at least not yet. Just don’t tell them that.
Source: Industry Gamers
lokiy2j
Bless THQ, but I would say that for me personally the Red faction franchise could be something more for them, and I always without fail purchase the newest Smackdown vs Raw game each year.
Mason_Mk
They published Crisis?
To me they just produced a lot of bad games in the PS2 days, and don’t see them around much now
Forrest_01
No they didn’t publish Crysis 2 – What he was saying was that they were releasing Homefront at around about the same time, so he was referring to laughing in the face of competition.
Oh & if you thought that they released some poor titles for the PS2, you should see some of their earlier offerings on the SNES. Truly awful some of them!
KeRaSh
For me THQ is all about Red Faction. If it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t pay much attention to them.
Origami Killer
same here, loved ref faction on the ps2 but lost intrest in the the new ones on my ps3. However, all a big fan of MX vs ATV series
scavenga
Confidence. That’s hawt.
Nauraph
I had to look up a list of their games.. I actually played none of those.. (Only checked ps3 list)
I am mildly interested in their upcomming Warhammer game, might be my first THQ title on my ps3. =P
Nauraph
I did play Company of Heroes on the PC though.
hazelam
well they’ve got ea’s greedy attitude down.
honestly, i think the only game of theirs i’m interested in is saints row, and i absolutely will not be buying that new if they have their bloody online pass thing included.
bunimomike
Greedy attitude? You make it sound so wrong. There’s a natural hunger for nearly every company in the world to do well. With that in mind, growth is often very important. Add to this that CEOs will always be the brashest and most outspoken (usually) and he really does come across with the sort of confidence that both gamers and employees would want to see. They’ve positioned themselves accordingly – sure they’ve not got their world conquering franchises – but they’re churning out some decent games and his statement will breed confidence amongst the ranks and gamers alike – especially if you’ve enjoyed one or two of them (for me, Red Faction: Guerilla was just all manner of fun).
You basically come across like you don’t want people to succeed. :-\
hazelam
by greed i was referring to their decision to use drm to combat the perfectly legal preowned market.
why does gaming have the sole right to violate our rights to transfer ownership of any media we’ve purchased?
this industry is going beyond a simple desire for profit and into obscene levels of greed, there seems to be no limits to how far some publishers are willing to go to squeeze every last penny out of their customers.
to them we’re nothing but a resource to be exploited.
they’ve seen the kind of money that can be made, and now they’re all on a mad drive to make as much money as possible, with distinctly short term thinking.
but you’re absolutely right about one thing, if this is the method they’re utilising then, no, i don’t want them to succeed.
any business that treats it’s customers like some of these publishers do deserves to crash and burn.
it’s the people doing the actual work on these products i feel for, these managers making short term, short sighted decisions for squick proift and screw the consequences, they’ll be fine, their obscene salaries will last them probably longer than they’ll live.
i just don’t like this atmosphere of greed around this industry lately, it almost seems like desperation, or more like an addict craving the next hit.
DrNate86
I would call Homefront more of a success in marketing rather than anything else.
m61726b
Yep, they did a very good job of selling the story and avoiding showing people how ugly the game was. Saying that, I love Homefront.
BrendanCalls
I guess Homefront was the beginning of that new business strategy and judging by its reception, there is a long way for THQ to go before they are considered in the highest echelon’s of video development and publishing.
xdarkmagician
Did Homefront really out sell Crysis2? I find that difficult to believe. IMO THQ games have always lacked polish, they seem to always ship a game that has potential but still feels incomplete.
Forrest_01
Homefront was certainly cheaper (I think I saw it for about £30 about a week after release), so maybe it sold more due to a lower price point?
mugsybalone
Well, the certainly brought a lot to the market this year, but as the article quite correctly states, they lack a consistent big time franchise. Looking at their current crop of titles, I don’t see where that could come from – I would’ve said Red Faction was the banker but we’re coming up on the 4th in the series for release, and none of the previous titles have been award winners or seem to have broken any sales records. Maybe they’re looking to build a franchise from Homefront, unfortunately the rather busy FPS market is populated by franchises like Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Battlefield – ones with games that are, y’know, not terrible.