THQ Establishes Darksiders as a Strong Franchise

[Tom Goldman]

THQ Establishes Darksiders as a Strong Franchise

An analyst recently took Darksiders to task as a probable disappointment for THQ, but THQ seems to think otherwise.

THQ's latest Darksiders [http://investor.thq.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=96376&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1382753&highlight=].

Despite one analyst's view [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98001-Analyst-Says-Darksiders-Was-A-Disappointment-for-THQ], THQ's report says Darksiders has been a strong performer and added it to a list of titles it could revisit in the future. Along with Darksiders, THQ's list of established franchises includes UFC, WWE (due to a recently settled lawsuit), Saint's Row, de Blob, Drawn to Life, Red Faction, and MX vs ATV. This does not mean that sequels are imminent, just that THQ is not depositing these franchises in the crapper.

Nevertheless, don't go thinking Darksiders is the year's top blockbuster yet. THQ used language that indicated the game either has been or will be profitable, but not quite CoD: MewTwo profitable [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98000-Modern-Warfare-2-Easily-2009s-Top-Game]. THQ's exact words were that Darksiders "delivered strong commercial sales, with shipments of approximately 1.2 million units in its first four weeks." Holy hell, 1.2 million units sold? Oh... that says "shipped." When a company says copies were "shipped," that normally doesn't mean the same thing as "sold," but retailers at least anticipate selling that many copies over the long run. Someone get Best Buy on the phone and find out for sure.

(Via: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/03/darksiders-rides-into-1-2-million-homes-thq-financially-recover])

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[Lord_Ascendant]

It doesn't surprise me another company is trying desperately to pretend they are still cool, even as their sales go down the tubes.

 

[Baby Eater]

I'm actually happy Darksiders is getting a sequel. It was a great game no matter how much people say it's a god of war clone. I look forward to seeing what's in store for War.

 

[Sonicron]

Excellent. I loved Darksiders, and I want at least one sequel - I want to see the other horsemen in action!

Here's to hoping THQ really get their feet on solid ground again, Darksiders is not their only franchise I want to see more games of (I'm looking at you, Dawn of War 2!).

 

[RatRace123]

Eh, it was OK... I guess it could get a sequel. Not before Saints Row however, I want me a Saints Row 3.

 

[Scrythe]

Whoa... I just now realized that THQ makes a lot of manly man, macho games. And I almost feel ashamed to admit that I like and own every one of their Warhammer 40,000 games.

But goddamn: WWE, Saints Row, Darksiders, etc? These were meant to be "bro" games. I guess this is what happens when you base your demographic around frat boys. Either that, or they do surveys in colleges to see what they'd like to see in a game, and I'm pretty sure it sounded something like:

"Duuuuuuude, he's gotta have, like a giant fist maaan. Oh! And a big sword and gun! And he blows shit up and fucks a lot of pussy! PUSSY, MAN!"

I know that's not how most people are in college, but I had to slam on the few that really are this fucking stupid.

 

[Spirultima]

Well a crap dev. having a just-below-terrible game can be considered a "Strong Franchise" by the crap dev. so who knows.

(But Saints Row was a damn exceptional game, so THQ isn't SO bad.)

 

[brodie21]

it looked to me like a dumb game. it could have been really neat if the dev hadnt bungled it

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Saints Row 3 has to be in the pipeworks; the second one did alright.

 

[tkioz]

God I hope not, I regret buying this piece of crap, maybe if they'd correctly identified it as a puzzle game not an action game I wouldn't have wasted my damn money.

Here's hoping Saints Row 3 comes out soon, I need my cockney sociopath back!

 

[Worgen]

Excellent. I loved Darksiders, and I want at least one sequel - I want to see the other horsemen in action!

Here's to hoping THQ really get their feet on solid ground again, Darksiders is not their only franchise I want to see more games of (I'm looking at you, Dawn of War 2!).

dow2 chaos rising comes out at the end of march and it looks bad ass

 

[SMOKEMNHALO2001]

"Duuuuuuude, he's gotta have, like a giant fist maaan. Oh! And a big sword and gun! And he blows shit up and fucks a lot of pussy! PUSSY, MAN!"

I laughed at that!

 

[SovietSecrets]

Fun game, I have enjoyed every bit of it so far. Heres to a sequel!

 

[MercurySteam]

A Darksiders sequel and series is very appetizing for me

 

[Simalacrum]

Good for THQ, I don't give a crap.

Darksiders was an incredibly "meh, its alright" game from what I can tell, so I'm not really that interested in the game... meaning that I'll like be uninterested in any sequels as well.

 

[damselgaming]

After the badass "No... NOT ALONE." ending, this pleases me. More exploration and more horse riding please!

 

[Jared]

It doesn't surprise me another company is trying desperately to pretend they are still cool, even as their sales go down the tubes.

Yeah, really nothing more than a PR stunt, to try lift there image

 

[Sonicron]

Excellent. I loved Darksiders, and I want at least one sequel - I want to see the other horsemen in action!

Here's to hoping THQ really get their feet on solid ground again, Darksiders is not their only franchise I want to see more games of (I'm looking at you, Dawn of War 2!).

dow2 chaos rising comes out at the end of march and it looks bad ass

I'm already counting the days.
You know, if there's one aspect of DoW2 that I wish was like the first game (regarding expansion packs), it'd be a playable campaign for all the featured factions, like in Dark Crusade. Chaos Rising will probably have another well-written storyline to rampage through, but I'd sure love to play a Chaos campaign as well...
Still, I'm definitely getting this.

 

[Treblaine]

Darksiders has sold almost 750'000 copies in just 3 weeks (according to VG Chartz [http://vgchartz.com]) which is selling faster than Dead Space did, a game that went on to do well enough to earn a sequel.

Jeez, people are acting as if you don't earn a couple billion in the first month then it is a failure.

Each sale earns the publisher about $20-25 which means so far they have already earned $15'000'00 to $18'750'000 from this game alone and sales are still going strong.