The game industry for approximately the past ten years has been dominated mostly by two publishers, Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard. Some may consider Ubisoft and Take-Two as recent upcoming challengers, but THQ CEO Brian Farrell feels that it is his company that has become the next big player.
"We certainly think of ourselves as one of the big ones," Farrell stated in a recent interview with IndustryGamers.
While THQ doesn’t have anywhere near the money to throw around like EA and Activision, Farrell truly believes that the company is on its way there thanks to the success of Homefront. The game sold over a million copies in its first week despite mediocre reviews.
"We had the top selling game in March with Homefront," he said. "We were number one. We crushed the competition here and in the U.K. and in other markets that we track."
Farrell went on to mention that THQ was successful with the game because, in his opinion, the publisher picks its spots carefully. It’s something, he claimed, that the company is also doing with their upcoming title Saints Row: The Third, set to release later this year.
"So it’s picking your spots, having great games from great creators, and it’s not about numbers of products – it’s about bringing great products to market, marketing them as we did with Homefront and as we intend to do with the rest of these games," Farrell stated with confidence. "So when we can compete, we win."
Finally, after acknowledging the publisher’s rather quiet 2010, he claimed that THQ is now equipped with a lineup of upcomming titles that should stir jealousy in its rivals.
"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," he said. "So I’m a competitor, I love to compete, and we intend to compete and win."
