Video Game Reviews 4 You

Posted September 9, 2011 by M.H. Williams

THQ has shut down a number of studios this year: Homefront developer Kaos Studios in June, two studios in Australia, and the internal MX vs. ATV developer located in Phoenix, Arizona.  Speaking at the Citi 2011 Tech Conference today, THQ CFO Paul Pucino outlined why those studios had to go.  THQ has decided to streamline its operations to create a few AAA releases each year, with successive iterations every two years.

"In respect to not talking about it at our annual meeting it's because we simply weren't able to announce it at that time," Pucino said. "We think the best position we can be in with respect to studio structure is fewer is better."

"The two we just shut in Australia were working on games that aren't consistent with our strategy anymore - one on a movie tie-in, one on a kids' game," Pucino said. "Our strategy now is bringing fewer, bigger triple-A titles to market: one or two original IPs each year, and sequelling them every two to two-and-a-half years."

Pucino highlighted the new THQ Montreal studio, headed up by Ubisoft-expat and former Assassin’s Creed creative director Patrice Désilets.  THQ believes the new studio will allow them to create AAA games cheaper and more efficiently.

"We're trying to reduce the cost of bringing high quality games to market," Pucino said. "Our studio in Montreal will grow from 150 to 400 employees in the next couple of years. We're going to be able to make games there for 40 percent less than some of our other studios."

Does THQ have a chance against Activision, EA, and Ubisoft?  Homefront didn’t sell as well as it could, the publisher just killed the Red Faction franchise, and its collaboration with director Guillermo del Toro won’t see fruit for many years now.  Is the publisher moving in the right direction?

[Via Edge]

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