THQ Wants a Shot at Activision's Shooter Crown

[Andy Chalk]

THQ Wants a Shot at Activision's Shooter Crown

THQ has its figurative fingers crossed that the launch of Homefront [http://www.amazon.com/Homefront-Xbox-360/dp/B003Q53VZC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299267239&sr=8-1] will make it a serious contender for the modern combat championship belt.

When it comes to military shooters, the undisputed king of the castle is Activision. The THQ [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00269QLI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299267269&sr=8-1].

THQ isn't a heavyweight publisher like Activision or EA but Vice President Danny Bilson is hoping to pick a fight with them anyway. "When we started Homefront, I said, 'Guys, if you want to build a first person shooter that deals with modern combat you're competing with Call of Duty'," he told Battlefield [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-03-thq-wants-in-on-ea-vs-acti-fps-battle], with Call of Duty, with Medal of Honor. And I like to think we're in the conversation."

"Can we beat them? Those are insane numbers for fantastic games, over many years," he continued. "This is a franchise launch but so far so good. I think we have a really good game. And I think in particular in the multiplayer battlefield is as much fun as anybody's."

Bilson clarified that the 200,000 pre-orders he talked about yesterday [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108189-Strong-Homefront-Sales-May-Save-Kaos-Studio], which made Homefront the most pre-ordered game in THQ history, were strictly from GameStop and didn't take into account other retailers or European pre-sales. "They're not Call of Duty numbers," he said. "But we're also a more nimble company, so a moderate hit will mean a lot to us. And a blockbuster hit would be ridiculously huge for us. All we can do is make the best game we can, sell it as well as we can and hope for the best."

Homefront comes out on March 15 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.


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[Dogstile]

I honestly hope this is the case. Maybe then we'd get more bitching about the games, but it would be varied! VARIED! Can you imagine that?

 

[icame]

Doesn't every shooter developer/publisher hope this?

 

[megs1120]

D'aww, that's so cute! Maybe I'll have to get it.

 

[Zipa]

THQ have already failed by annoying the hell out of steam users in the UK mainland who can not buy the game on steam though it uses steamworks, apparently they did a deal which made it retail exclusive.

Say what you want about activision but they haven't sunk this low, at least they only screw the PC with the map packs.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Seize the crown?

Not possible. The franchise will just eventually fall out of favor with the masses naturally over time. No single title will manage such a thing.

Touch the crown?

Not probable, but possible. Halo did it with Reach.

Sell well enough to make a decent profit?

Quite likely. Judging from all the buzz about this game.

 

[Blank Kold]

Frontlines was innovative in some respects, albeit buggy. I dont think that Homefront will propel THQ into a publishing titan, but the game is getting alot of buzz, from what I can see.

 

[Nooners]

I don't plan on buying Homefront, nor do I think it stands a shot in hell of toppling Call of Duty or Battlefield, but best of luck to everyone at THQ. If by chance Homefront does top CoD, I would honestly be thrilled to see such a hot new IP make such a big splash.

'course, I would still like to see my childhood hero Sonic the Hedgehog make such a triumphant return, but I have to keep expectations reasonable

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I preordered this game and am expecting the campaign to be pretty good, way better than Call of Duty, but take down Call of Duty? Doubt it.

 

[Atmos Duality]

THQ wants the Golden Goose?
Get in line.

If you're lucky, you might be able to pilfer an egg though.

 

[teebeeohh]

isn't the shooter crown worn by Valve?
and Activision has on of those things from burgertown?

 

[Skizle]

Seize the crown?

Not possible. The franchise will just eventually fall out of favor with the masses naturally over time. No single title will manage such a thing.

Touch the crown?

Not probable, but possible. Halo did it with Reach.

Sell well enough to make a decent profit?

Quite likely. Judging from all the buzz about this game.

idk, it will depend on how well Homefront will do and how well Space Marine sells.

EDIT:

isn't the shooter crown worn by Valve?
and Activision has on of those things from burgertown?

The only crown Valve has is the "buy cheap mods and make millions from their so called "hard work""

 

[jpoon]

I like the way this guy speaks, like a human instead of a robot corporate fuck. Almost makes me think about buying this game even though it looks like chum.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

idk, it will depend on how well Homefront will do and how well Space Marine sells.

Space Marine is automatically going to sell well. Not because it will be a good game (Though it certainly will given Relic's track record), but because of Brand recognition. Warhammer 40k is the second most popular tabletop miniatures game next to Dungeons and Dragons. They are guaranteed good sales by default. Did you see the numbers for the top selling games on Steam? Dawn of War 2, an offbeat RTS was on that list.

 

[Woodsey]

Hopefully homefront can sell a decent amounnt of units. I like their attitute, the studio obviously CHOSE to do a modern millitary shooter (you hear that Activision? Some publishers actually give them a choice) and a new IP at that and THQ have done their best to back them on that.

Of course the most important thing is that it is a great game and it sells well. I think certain people have begun to forget about the importance of quality in the industry.

If some of the Homefront previews are anything to go by, they're certainly not the ones to remember the importance of quality. I rarely see a bad preview (generally, if a game is bad, the preview is rather 'meh' in tone, but not apparently negative) but RPS's preview for the game was not a good one.

 

[Namewithheld]

I have this weird dream that Homefront sells huge amounts of money...enough to buy the rights to Homeworld.

Then relic can make Homeworld 3.

What a wonderful dream.