THQ insists it now rivals EA, Activision

By Fred Dutton Published 17 May, 2011

"When we can compete, we win."

Once considered a second tier publisher, THQ now sees itself as a major player following the success of its Homefront FPS, so says CEO Brian Farrell.

Speaking in an interview with IndustryGamers, Farrell insisted that the publisher is now on a level pegging with heavyweights like EA and Activision.

"We certainly think of ourselves as one of the big ones," he said.

Farrell cited Homefront's performance as proof, stating that the shooter's success is emblematic of the publisher's recent growth in stature.

"We had the top selling game in March with Homefront," he explained.

"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 UK 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."

He added that any publisher would be happy to boast THQ's upcoming release slate – which includes Saints Row: The Third, Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, Darksiders 2 and Devil's Third.

"The way we like to think about this is, we undertook a brand new strategy two 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."

Homefront launched back in March to so-so reviews but strong sales, shifting a million copies in its first week on shelves.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (61) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • randompanda #1 1 year ago

    "You've got Crisis..."

    ??

  • midnight_walker #2 1 year ago

    Don't ever mention Homefront in the same breath as Saints Row again.

  • mickey2002 #3 1 year ago

    Well give me SR3 and Darksiders 2 and thats two sales you have. They are doing more games that I will get however to stay they are in with EA and Activion are just stupid. Them two are far bigger companys. I dout all of THQ could buy Bioware or Blizzard etc. They ain't on the same level. But they are improving..

  • weejok #4 1 year ago

    Ha-Ha!

  • Raznilof #5 1 year ago

    It's bold and brash and pretty much all the buzz words I hate from usual company speak but my god they did release Darksiders didn't they.

  • Hunam #6 1 year ago

    Yeah, THQ, you're not even in Ubisoft's league, let alone the super heavyweights.

  • Ultrasoundwave #7 1 year ago

    Really? , because the metascore and sales of your games say otherwise.......

    Seriously, shut up and get your games to do the talking for you.

  • LazyNinjaUk #8 1 year ago

    It annoys me that a crap game such as Homefront shifts over a million, yet a decent game like Enslaved has only just reached 700k.

    So to hear them refer to Homefront as a "great product" really fecks me off.

  • HyperTails #9 1 year ago

    Homefront was a good game I thought. Not as good as Crysis 2, but still good, and i'm glad to see both do well.

    I wouldn't say that in terms of size, that they rival EA or Activision, definately not. They are the two biggest. In terms of size, they don't even rival Ubisoft.

    And hurry up with that Homefront DLC, will ya?

  • Hunam #10 1 year ago

    The words 'Enslaved' and 'decent game' are mutually exclusive.

  • menage #11 1 year ago

    People mix up personal taste with actual quality way often.

  • Dannyboy1100 #12 1 year ago

    Who are THQ?

  • Hunam #13 1 year ago

    Any game that prohibits even basic exploration like Enslaved does should be publicly humiliated. Once you go up a few platforms, you are barred from going back down to that secret you missed and just spotted.

  • The-Jack-Burton #14 1 year ago

    The sales of Homefront were largely out of it being a curiosity, and since almost everyone that played it thought it sucked, maybe THQ should temper their Bravado.

    But to be fair, the lineup of future games has a good mix of curiosity mixed with established fanbase, THQ might actually begin to stabilize and possibly generate a profit. I would agree that they've got a ways to go before they can even look Ubisoft in the eye.

    Why can't devs and pubs just let their products speak for themselves. The gaming community would be a much less hostile place if they weren't constantly try to tell us shit that we know not to be true.

  • thedriffter50 #15 1 year ago

    If you mean you have the same amount of awful games as EA and Acti then yeah your on the same level or even better.

    God this kind of crap coming from game companies depresses me as a gamer.

  • menage #16 1 year ago

    Some basic design decisions hardly make something a crap game as a whole.

    And EA hardly just puts out just crap. Dead Space 2 and Crysis 2 were mighty enjoyable for me.

    Acti kinda sucks though, at least EA sticks with their experiments and give them another whirl. Acti just ditches shit that doesn't make money, which for them is everything not CoD.
    Edited by menage at 17/05/11 @ 21:11

  • The-Jack-Burton #17 1 year ago

    @Hunam, Whatever game you would like Enslaved to be more like, how about you go play that game and STFU

  • thedriffter50 #18 1 year ago

    '' And EA hardly just puts out just crap. Dead Space 2 and Crysis 2 were mighty enjoyable for me. ''

    Yeah they do but for every Dead Space there is a FIFA or Madden which aren't necessary and should be DLC not full priced games.

  • Vortex808 #19 1 year ago

    Homefront multiplayer using battle commander was great. The singleplayer was rather whiffy.

    However, for the excellent de blob 2 and publishing the awesomely atmospheric Metro 2033 I can forgive them their outrageous hyperbole.

  • menage #20 1 year ago

    I'm not saying EA doesn't put out stuff which they could handle better. Although as I recall Fifa has hardly become worse the last few outings.

    Just take your picks of the good stuff I'd say, who needs to play everything a company puts out? Ubi puts out AC just as well as We Dare, who cares if some idiot buys the latter as long as you don't?

    Heck movie company's put out tons of drivel next to the classics, that's where the money is. As long as they still fund the good stuff I'm fine.
    Edited by menage at 17/05/11 @ 21:25

  • coolbritannia #21 1 year ago

    They had the most traded in game of March as well. Please don't publish the rantings of these pip squeaks.

    Same goes for Splash Damage.

  • Jay-ITFC #22 1 year ago

    What the fuck is Devil's Third?

  • menage #23 1 year ago

    Isn't that the new Itagaki game?

  • metalangel #24 1 year ago

    Homefront, de Blob, MX vs ATV, Saint's Row and Red Faction are all great. (I haven't played Dawn of War, for shame)

    So I'd say yeah, they're pretty good. The Chrysler to EA and Activision's Ford and GM.

  • NOSAVIOUR #25 1 year ago

    In fairness Brian Farrell is on level playing fields as Bobby Kotick as biggest dick in the industry.

  • God_Octo #26 1 year ago

    1 reasonable game does not make you a top tier publisher. And for that matter who are the top tier publishers? EA, Activision, Sony and Ubisoft? With THQ, SE/ Eidos and MS being middle?

  • ColdCoffee #27 1 year ago

    Brian Farrell interviews are destroying this companies image. I'll never buy another THQ game to support this idiots yacht club.

  • Smoped #28 1 year ago

    Provided they don't fuck up Saints Row 3, that could very well make his claim a reality. As far as we know there's no new GTA in sight and Saints Row 2 was characterized by most people as a pleasant surprise if not necessarily a timeless classic.

  • cwk27 #29 1 year ago

    Do yourself a favour and save some money by cancelling Darksiders 2 and pump it into SR3 and Warhammer 40k.

  • Lamb #30 1 year ago

    Unfortunately THQ is not in the black, full-year losses hit $136m.

    Though Red Faction was awesome, WWE All Stars was awesome.

    I just have a little quibble with EA. Lets make every game like The Sims and forget about everything else. I liked Dragon Age dialogue storywise and the fighting system was good on the PC but the gameplay environments and textures were weak.

  • Lamb #31 1 year ago

    Unfortunately THQ is not in the black, full-year losses hit $136m.

    Though Red Faction was awesome, WWE All Stars was awesome.

    I just have a little quibble with EA. Lets make every game like The Sims and forget about everything else. I liked Dragon Age dialogue storywise and the fighting system was good on the PC but the gameplay environments and textures were weak.

  • brod #32 1 year ago

    EA is the #1 publisher in my mind - they have the most high quality franchises this generation.

  • Centrifugal #33 1 year ago

    If by "one of the big ones" you mean 'we can churn out games that aren't great but still sell well,' then sure.

  • Kaminari #34 1 year ago

    Behold the power of the Coué Method.

  • aeonfusion #35 1 year ago

    this is like the 5th story about this kinda shit today, first with the age of empires shit...i'm starting to come to the conclusion that anything anyone says about their own game or company is a total lie. these CEO's must just be forced to do a set number of press releases every year or something and just babble inanely about how they're the best at everything. do they really think this sways peoples opinion? 'the owner of the company says they're good games so they must be'...indeed. just stfu and make games...preferably good ones.

  • Tryhard #36 1 year ago

    Who are these publisher suits getting up on their soap boxes spouting BS?

    Remember when we were all one big happy gaming community.

    Now its we can do this better than you can.We are No1. Who cares, just concentrate on making good games again.

  • king26 #37 1 year ago

    Homefront does not come close to BFBC2!
    Edited by king26 at 17/05/11 @ 22:22

  • Ryboy #38 1 year ago

    "...following the success of its Homefront FPS."

    I'm sorry, what?!

  • urban #39 1 year ago

    Homefront was a failure. Everyone knows it.

  • Neil_LCFC #40 1 year ago

    Homefront is great fun online, definately worth buying just for MP alone especially if you can pick it up for around £25

  • Neil_LCFC #41 1 year ago

    Homefront is great fun online, definately worth buying just for MP alone especially if you can pick it up for around £25

  • spekkeh #42 1 year ago

    Once considered a second tier publisher, THQ now sees itself as a major player following the success of its Homefront FPS, so says CEO Brian Farrell.

    Erm, weren't they a premier tier publisher back in the SNES/Megadrive days though? I remember them making nearly every movie tie-in or other licensed game back then. All of them sucked major balls, but ostensibly sold very well.

  • Embar #43 1 year ago

    "Crushed", according to VG Chartz Crysis 2 has outsold Homefront 2:1 on consoles alone!

  • metalangel #44 1 year ago

    @Embar: Am I reading that site wrong? It says Crysis 2 sold 0.78, 0.52, 0.19million on 360, PS3 and PC, while Homefront is down for 1.12, 0.55 and 0.10million. Both sets of numbers seem rather low.

  • gjgjg #45 1 year ago

    bring me more Company of Heros and you're the best in my eyes:)

  • HyperTails #46 1 year ago

    @Embar

    Don't take VGChartz as a reliable source. EA haven't even announced sales figures for Crysis 2, only announcing that its shipped 2 million a few weeks ago. VGChartz not only refuse to explain where they get their information from, but they adjust their figures depending on what the NPD say. They've been off by about 2 million sometimes.

  • Yuroko #47 1 year ago

    Don't be silly, THQ. I can't recall a single triple A game I've played of theirs since the snes days! Some of their games are alright but they are mostly a publisher of mediocre games. At least some of Activision's games are good before they get milked.

  • digitalash #48 1 year ago

    Yeah, don't get cocky. Homefront sold well on hype and marketing spend. Do you really think Homefront 2 is in a strong position now?

  • Xboxfanuk #49 1 year ago

    Translation - "Investors we are a big deal, give us your money!"

  • GozuTennai #50 1 year ago

    I dont remember a decent title off thq ever tbh.

  • Tonne #51 1 year ago

    if the gamingindustry was the justice league the thq was aquaman, pretty awesome. but in no way equel to superman and batman

  • Zander #52 1 year ago

    So who are your fav developers?

    I used to be in for Sega in the old days... then Konami with MGS / PES and now... maybe Bioware or Naughty Dog

    Edit: No wait... Valve (please give us more HL though will ya!)

  • Quixz #53 1 year ago

    Xboxfanuk

    Got it spot on this is for investors.

  • mrvinny000 #54 1 year ago

    Poor GTA & CoD clones with the odd beat em up & yearly WWE wreck & they think they equal the 2 biggest devs , does this mean the Lego games are bigger than all of them seeing as they have Harry Potter , Star Wars , Indy , Batman & Jack Sparrow on its books .
    You changed your logo & pump out some dire games that got traded quicker than you can say Homefront & you claim to be better than Rockstar , Sega, Capcom ,Naughty Dog & Insomniac? I don't think so.

  • pinchofsalt #55 1 year ago

    Releasing a heavily marketed title in a month when the big hitters release nothing of note is not a measure of success. When your annual revenues come in the same league as EA and Activision then you will compete.
    It will be interesting to see if the sales of a second title in the IP will be of note when the first game was so critically underwhelming.

  • CamberGreber #56 1 year ago

    Bring on PUNISHER 2 and we will Talk.

  • ObiChrisKenobi #57 1 year ago

    Oh THQ.

  • username84 #58 1 year ago

    It may have been the best selling game, but how many of them were traded in days later?
    I know mine was.

  • TitusCrow #59 1 year ago

    All I want from THQ is news that relic ( assuming they are still with them - which I think they are ) are making Company of Hero's 2! apart from that they have nothing I want.

  • NKHdesign #60 1 year ago

    Homefront was a mediocre game (barely) sounds like someone doesn't listen to his consumer base and cares about sales a little to much.

  • QotSAfan #61 1 year ago

    I like THQ.