In the publishing world, the two biggest giants are clearly Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts. When Jason West and Vince Zampella had to leave Activision's Infinity Ward, they apparently had "very serious discussions" with THQ before ultimately signing with EA.
In a new in-depth interview with IndustryGamers, THQ Core Games VP Danny Bilson reveals that his company was certainly very interested in signing Respawn. "I probably shouldn’t talk about that publicly, but Jason [West] and Vince [Zampella] and I had a lot of very serious conversations during that time when they were 'shopping around',” Bilson said.
We pressed him on how hard it is to compete with Activision or EA when they're busy signing folks like Bungie or Insomniac. Bilson proceeded to give us some very surprising answers, noting that "We have absolutely hands down the best pitch in the world, the easiest place for artists to come, and you’re going to see a series of announcements of some very serious game talent coming our way."
Bilson said that THQ is preparing to announce talent of the same caliber as Jason West and Vince Zampella. "The guys you mentioned, the guys that we’re going to announce, are of that caliber coming our way. So as far as competing with the other guys, that’s not an issue at all, because what we have is an absolutely better place to work... because those guys, the creatives, aren’t driven by the marketers," he said. "The marketers are driven by the creatives in our shop. I have a feeling we’re one of the only shops in the entertainment business that’s run that way these days. And what that means to a developer is invaluable. I’m about to leave this meeting to go greet one of these pieces of talent I’m suggesting and over the next six months you’re going to understand exactly what I was saying."
Bilson couldn't hold back his excitement. He added, "Wait till you see our announcements! You’re going to go, 'oh my God'.”
What really took us by surprise, however, is that THQ absolutely insists on owning all IP. The deals that Bungie, Respawn and Insomniac all signed enable the developer to retain the IP rights. Bilson doesn't believe in that model, nor does he think his mindset on this will restrict THQ's chances of landing talent.
"The only thing we have to have and insist on is ownership of the intellectual property. That’s sort of the deal breaker for me. So, we have to own the IP, but I believe in the Hollywood model, which is that, the bigger the artist, the more important, the more successful they are, the bigger share they get. Just like in Hollywood. But you know, most of the biggest talents in Hollywood don’t own their IPs. It doesn’t work that way. My job coming to this company was to build an IP library, which builds value in THQ. So that means having a developer own the IP becomes a deal-breaker," he said.
As for developers that do retain their own IP, Bilson added, "That is fantastic for them if they can get away with it. They can’t come here with that. And I don’t need them if that’s the deal, and they’re not a business I want to be in."
