THQ Hammered by Sub-Par Homefront Scores

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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THQ Hammered by Sub-Par Homefront Scores


Less-than-stellar review scores for the new shooter Homefront [http://www.amazon.com/Homefront-Xbox-360/dp/B003Q53VZC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300239513&sr=8-1] have take their toll on THQ, driving the company's already-low share price down by more than 20 percent.

THQ was counting on big things from Homefront, the Metacritic [http://www.amazon.com/Red-Dawn-Collectors-Patrick-Swayze/dp/B000PMFS14/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1300239575&sr=8-2] it's put up an average of 73 across the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Those are far from spectacular numbers and THQ is feeling the brunt. Its share price, which had already dropped by more than 15 percent since the company lowered its profit outlook in its third-quarter earnings report in February, took another sharp turn downward today. After closing at $5.94 on March 14, it opened at $5.43 today before ultimately closing at $4.69, a close-to-close slide of 21 percent.

"This score is a bit of a disaster for THQ and the share price today is reflecting that," said Mike Hickey, an analyst with Janco Partners. "The market is a quality driven market [and] you need at least a score of 80 and above on Metacritic to do well."

The game's critical failure could also spell bad news for Kaos Studios, the developer that actually made the game. Following reports that THQ was considering relocating the New York-based studio to tax-friendly Montreal, vice president Danny Bilson explained that the decision would hinge largely on the success of the game. "I tell them the more successful a game is, the better the economics are for the franchise, and that will help to influence what we do," he said earlier this month [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108189-Strong-Homefront-Sales-May-Save-Kaos-Studio]. "A lot of it has to do with how successful it is and how strong that core team comes out on the other side."

Source: Reuters [http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/thq-shares-idUSN1524342120110315]


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DaHero

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Jan 10, 2011
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hem dazon 90 said:
Well that sucks for THQ.
There is only one single reason why this game was hit bad.

It didn't have "Call of Duty" in the name, so the fanboys didn't buy it and instead bombed it because it could have been what Modern Warfare 2 and BlackOps will never be.
 

The Random One

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May 29, 2008
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Hooray, free trip to Canada?

I have to add that most reviews say the same things: 'Single player is kind of lame. Multiplayer is awesome. It averages out to an average game.'

This is not the case, but devs, don't stick useless single player campaings in the future. THIS IS YOUR FUTURE!
 

vrbtny

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Sep 16, 2009
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That.... wasn't really unexpected... was it?

We all knew it was going to happen.
 

cocoadog

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DaHero said:
hem dazon 90 said:
Well that sucks for THQ.
There is only one single reason why this game was hit bad.

It didn't have "Call of Duty" in the name, so the fanboys didn't buy it and instead bombed it because it could have been what Modern Warfare 2 and BlackOps will never be.
No it was hit bad because the story was not even 5 hours and the multiplayer is barely above average but still no where near the quality of other shooters out there.
 

Baresark

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Dec 19, 2010
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DaHero said:
hem dazon 90 said:
Well that sucks for THQ.
There is only one single reason why this game was hit bad.

It didn't have "Call of Duty" in the name, so the fanboys didn't buy it and instead bombed it because it could have been what Modern Warfare 2 and BlackOps will never be.
You're absolutely right. $10 says the next CoD game gets stellar reviews, even though it won't be any different than the last two iterations. I love how the campaign was criticized for its length when it's no shorter than any campaign lengths from the last 4 CoD games. In the review it says, "it felt short", well so did that last CoD games, but no one was there to criticize them for it. No, CoDBlops S&S (short and shitty) campaign got praised for how good it was. Yeah, nothing beat facing a horde of endless guys every other stage, wow, what excitement.

Edit: I sound bitter, and I'm really not. But, I hate the horrible double standards regarding this genre of game.
 

Soviet Heavy

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Jan 22, 2010
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Please don't let this drive THQ down. I don't want to see Relic without a publisher. Shame about Kaos Studios as well, they tried to do something and it didn't pan out the way they hoped.
 

Dogstile

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DaHero said:
hem dazon 90 said:
Well that sucks for THQ.
There is only one single reason why this game was hit bad.

It didn't have "Call of Duty" in the name, so the fanboys didn't buy it and instead bombed it because it could have been what Modern Warfare 2 and BlackOps will never be.
This right here.

People complain it had a 5 hour campaign? I blasted through black ops in 4 and that was apparently wonderful.

Marketing, they do their job well in Activision
 

JonnWood

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Jul 16, 2008
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What a shame. I was watching a playthrough, and yes, it's more or less a CoD game with a different story and enemies. But the story is so important that it's like saying water is just oxygen with two hydrogen molecules.
 

DaHero

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Jan 10, 2011
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Baresark said:
DaHero said:
hem dazon 90 said:
Well that sucks for THQ.
There is only one single reason why this game was hit bad.

It didn't have "Call of Duty" in the name, so the fanboys didn't buy it and instead bombed it because it could have been what Modern Warfare 2 and BlackOps will never be.
You're absolutely right. $10 says the next CoD game gets stellar reviews, even though it won't be any different than the last two iterations. I love how the campaign was criticized for its length when it's no shorter than any campaign lengths from the last 4 CoD games. In the review it says, "it felt short", well so did that last CoD games, but no one was there to criticize them for it. No, CoDBlops S&S (short and shitty) campaign got praised for how good it was. Yeah, nothing beat facing a horde of endless guys every other stage, wow, what excitement.

Edit: I sound bitter, and I'm really not. But, I hate the horrible double standards regarding this genre of game.
Well I'm bitter about it so watch out and grab a trench shovel.
 

Andy of Comix Inc

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Apr 2, 2010
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I actually think THQ is going about it like a dick. "Oh, Kaos Studios didn't make the game good enough. It was their own fault, and now they're going to have to be exiled. Tough break."

Your marketing, dear THQ, was appalling, and this is nobody's fault but your own.
 

fulano

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Oct 14, 2007
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I wonder how this will impact the UFC license, now that they've acquired Strikeforce and all its assets including their legal obligations--I had assumed they'd just dump EA but this, coupled with how not great the second UFC game did is giving me second thoughts. Perhaps they could make a switch to EA now that THQ is struggling bad?
 
Apr 28, 2008
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Well, sorry to hear the developers will have to be moved to Canada. Who knows, maybe sales will pick up after a while.

After all, Medal of Honor was painfully average, and that sold well.
 

Traun

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Jan 31, 2009
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Baresark said:
DaHero said:
hem dazon 90 said:
Well that sucks for THQ.
There is only one single reason why this game was hit bad.

It didn't have "Call of Duty" in the name, so the fanboys didn't buy it and instead bombed it because it could have been what Modern Warfare 2 and BlackOps will never be.
You're absolutely right. $10 says the next CoD game gets stellar reviews, even though it won't be any different than the last two iterations. I love how the campaign was criticized for its length when it's no shorter than any campaign lengths from the last 4 CoD games. In the review it says, "it felt short", well so did that last CoD games, but no one was there to criticize them for it. No, CoDBlops S&S (short and shitty) campaign got praised for how good it was. Yeah, nothing beat facing a horde of endless guys every other stage, wow, what excitement.
Just because CoD had 8 hour long campaign doesn't mean we should get used to it.
 

Void(null)

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Dec 10, 2008
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I find it interesting that every review for Homefront has been 50% or above, with an average of 72%. Shouldn't that mean for the most part the game is above average?

Unless of course... our most trusted reviewers give artificially inflated review scores. Could it... could it be true?
 

p3t3r

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Apr 16, 2009
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i saw this coming form so far away. i have an idea don't advertise a special story then have a normal length story. i mean if they wanted to do something special they should have made a 16 hour story that would have made people talk and maybe encouraged people to buy instead of rent.