Thankfully, in this industry, quality sells. In fact, for the most part, the better the game, the better the sales (please bear in mind I said, "for the most part").
And don't think for a second that game publishers aren't aware. THQ has several promising titles on the horizon, and they're all the more promising now that we know the publisher's mentality: mediocrity just doesn't sell. So maybe we should all be a bit more excited about stuff like Red Faction: Armageddon and Saints Row 3. THQ Global Publishing Executive VP Ian Curran put it bluntly:
"We can't afford anymore to bring mediocre games to market. There's no room for them. You're either a standout, best in class, or you die. We won't bring bad games to market anymore. You can't spend $30, $40, $50 million on a bad game and expect to make a return."
Curran says one of the differences THQ has made is that they simply won't release a game until they're convinced it's top-notch quality. Simply put, "we will not release it until it's best in class and everybody's going to be blow away by what we have." He did mention the upcoming Saints Row 3; telling everyone the wait will be "worth it." Recently, the company has produced Metro 2033 and Darksiders but one gets the feeling that Curran and Co. are aiming even higher for the immediate future. They're also apparently working on a "high profile AAA multiplayer co-op action combat project" for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, so stay tuned for the unveiling... No, we don't know what it is.
Regardless of what you think of past THQ games, you have to admit that such a philosophy is encouraging for consumers.
Tags: thq, quality games, industry
7/22/2010 9:10:03 PM John Shepard
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