IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

THQ to Pursue Social Gaming 'In a Big Way'

Posted January 14, 2010 by James Brightman

IndustryGamers recently caught up with THQ's EVP of Core Games Danny Bilson to discuss the challenge of launching new IP (in this case Darksiders). Our discussion, however, also briefly touched upon some other issues, such as the rise of social gaming and THQ's reliance over the years on licensing.

Social gaming on sites like Facebook and MySpace blew up in 2009, and according to Playdom, that market could be worth around $5 billion in just a few years. Zynga is the best example of the sector's incredible growth and they seem to get larger all the time. With the exception of EA buying Playfish, traditional video game publishers have not been very active, but we'd expect that to change in 2010. Bilson told us that THQ definitely has major plans for the social games space.

"We've got several Facebook games in development, most based on our own IPs. We love the fact that gaming continues to reach new consumers via new platforms and we will be there in a big way," he said. Unfortunately, the details are scarce but you can try to guess which THQ IPs he's referring to. It's worth noting that THQ is already getting in on the micropayments business with its THQ*ICE business and the game Dragonica Online.

Another growing trend, of course, is motion control. With both Project Natal and Sony's motion wand on the horizon, the landscape could look pretty different down the road. Bilson assured us that THQ is gearing up for the motion platforms as well: "We plan to be on Natal and Sony at the launch of these motion devices. We believe these innovative platforms will generate increased interest in the gaming industry in 2010 as well as extending the life of Microsoft and Sony's hardware."

Finally, we also talked about balancing licensed IP with new, original IP. Although THQ has been focusing a bit more on new IP of late, the publisher's bread and butter has definitely been in the licensed category for quite some time. In fact, the company recently brought back veteran Germaine Gioia as its new senior vice president, licensing and merchandising. We asked Bilson if this sends the signal that THQ is reverting to its licensed games focus, but he insisted that THQ is committed to fresh, original IP. 

He responded, "We remain focused on building our library of original IPs. We are very glad to have Germaine back at THQ. Licensed games make up a significant percent of the overall video game market and will continue to be an important component of our portfolio, even as we grow revenue from original IPs. In addition to securing licenses for THQ, a big focus for Germaine will be to broaden awareness for our properties by working with consumer product companies to create merchandise based on THQ's brands."

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.