While it may have been a coincidence, it was certainly interesting that the Grand Theft Auto V trailer and the Saints Row: The Third trailer appeared on the same day. You might think that the looming behemoth of GTA V would make THQ nervous about the prospects for Saints Row: The Third, but you would be wrong. CEO Brian Farrell is bullish on Saints Row: The Third, telling analysts “We like the way the buzz is building on the title” in their recent earnings call.
Of course, the big advantage for THQ is that Saints Row: The Third will be here on November 15th, and GTA V won't be coming out until some time in 2012... and if history is any indication, probably later in 2012 rather than earlier. THQ is looking for Saints Row The Third to be the purchase of choice this holiday season for GTA fans looking for something new.
So far, THQ has 4 times the pre-orders for Saints Row: The Third than they had at an equivalent time before the release of Saints Row 2. While Farrell was unwilling to state any specific numbers, he did predict that during the fiscal year THQ would sell north of 3 million units (which was Saints Row 2's sales in that fiscal year; the title has now hit 4.5 million units lifetime). “It's very difficult to answer the question “How high can it go?”,” says Farrell. He pointed out that Saints Row 2 has had very long legs, and has been doing very well in the last quarter (probably due to buzz about Saints Row: The Third), so THQ expects Saints Row: The Third to have similar long legs.
Farrell isn't worried about GTA V in part because he believes it's a very different game. “The GTA trailer is a high-quality trailer, but it shows the completely different positioning of the two games. A very different experience. The Saints Row: The Third trailer shows all the crazy stuff in the game, and if you read the forums, people love it.” The Official Xbox magazine just gave the game a 9.5 rating, which is probably helping Farrell's optimism over the title. THQ can certainly use a hit, as their stock price has been down about 60% this year over last year, after Homefront received mixed reviews.
