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THQ has outlined some basic plans for the next title from its successful new IP, Homefront.
“Everything we learned from [the original] you’ll see executed in other games going forward, and including that franchise going forward. We’ll have some really interesting announcements in the future about the future of that brand,” THQ’s core games chief Danny Bilson told Eurogamer at E3 last week.
Any follow-up will need to build on a solid set of review scores, added Bilson.
“I would like to get to a place where we don’t get mixed reviews, we get all great reviews, as certain games get. We had 40 reviews over 80. 40. And some that were just down in the bottom. I don’t want to have games that are so controversial on quality. I want to have consistency across everybody’s experience with them.
“We need to look at our games in terms of not just what we love about them, but what could somebody not like about them, and work on every little corner of them and shore them up to get to greatness.”
Bilson admitted that Homefront is a work in progress: “We’re growing. We’re learning. We’re applying learnings. That game taught us tons. It also taught us some really good things. It was an example of the new way we market core in THQ. That was the first large campaign executed under my leadership with great marketers unchained.”
Regarding Homefront multiplayer, the core games boss wants a better experience off the bat with Homefront 2.
“We also learned a lot about the service side of an online game needing dedicated servers. And learned a tremendous amount, which is all rolled out now in the demo. I hear it’s going beautifully, with great connectivity. Everything’s smooth.
“The issues we had on Homefront we’ll never have again. And yet, I absolutely love that brand and want to continue to make it great.”
Bilson’s Homefront chat came before the publisher announced the closure of Homefront developer Kaos Studios. The franchise is now at a new home in THQ’s Montreal HQ.
In his Homefront review Martin wrote: “There’s enough material within Homefront’s concept for it to spiral into something more interesting, and with plenty of talk about a sequel it’s clear that’s what THQ and Kaos is looking for, but this first crack of the whip falls far short of the competition.”
We’re sure the franchise will improve, but it’s sad to see Kaos removed from duty.
