Danny-Bilson
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Report: How Homefront's developer crumbled
The slow demise of Kaos Studios leading up to its June 2011 closure has been attributed to poor management and a misallocation of resources, according to conversations anonymous ex-staff members had with Gamasutra. One of the Homefront developers believed THQ's "plan was to close the studio regardless."Management issues reportedly stemmed from inexperienced team members leading more qualified peers during Homefront's development. One ex-staff member said the studio "had this level of leads with tons and tons of experience, and you had the directors with much less." Those directors "didn't listen to the very talented team they hired."Former THQ Executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson was also the target of former team members' frustrations. Ex-staffers spoke of Bilson's heavy involvement in Homefront's development and his tendency to "hand out mandates on high and then disappear," adding that "he's not qualified to talk about game mechanics."We've contacted THQ for comment on this story.
Jason Rubin and Danny Bilson: a tale of two THQs
During Danny Bilson's tenure at Saints Row publisher THQ, the company went from license-dependent (think Nickelodeon) to "Core-focused" (think ... uh, Saints Row). And eventually, the publisher's entire direction turned, from a split between casual/family-focused titles and those of its "Core" division, to one solely focused on that "Core." THQ today is essentially just the "Core" division.When Bilson was fired from THQ and Jason Rubin was appointed president just over a week ago, the publisher's messaging didn't change. "Rubin's appointment comes as THQ realigns its focus from a maker of licensed games for broad audiences to a developer of AAA 'Core' games for multiple platforms," Rubin's appointment PR reads.But Bilson arguably lead THQ's charge into "AAA 'Core' games," pushing for games like Metro 2033, Darksiders, and Saints Row: The Third, and brokering deals with Guillermo del Toro for a three-game survival horror series called "Insane," with Turtle Rock for an unnamed FPS, and Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonobu Itagaki for a (since dropped) project called "Devil's Third." Why he was fired remains unknown. "I don't think it's a question for me," THQ president Jason Rubin told us during an E3 2012 interview.
THQ's Danny Bilson exits as Jason Rubin takes prez spot
THQ announced this afternoon that former executive vice president of "Core Games" Danny Bilson stepped down from his position in the company, and Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin is taking the position of president. Rubin will report directly to chairman and CEO Brian Farrell.Additionally, senior vice president of Core Studios Dave Davis is exiting the company. Bilson, Davis, and the "Core Games" group at THQ lead the charge in recent years on THQ's rebranding (including the logo you see above) from a licensed-game publisher to one developing and publishing what Bilson and co. considered "core" franchises (Warhammer 40K, Saints Row, and Red Faction among others). The move is especially odd considering THQ's continuing initiative to develop "AAA 'Core' games for multiple platforms."As for Rubin's appointment, that's distinctly less odd – he helped create one of the game industry's most successful development studios. "Jason's proven track record in the industry speaks for itself, and he is one of the brightest minds in the business," Farrell said of Rubin's appointment. As for Bilson, Farrell noted his "significant contributions" and thanked him.
THQ reaffirms existence of inSane, other games
Director Guillermo Del Toro's THQ project, inSane, "is not cancelled" according to THQ's Executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson. The executive went to Twitter last night to make the declaration.The statement comes a couple days after THQ, which reported a loss of $239.9 million in the previous fiscal year, announced during an investor call it was looking to unload Tomonobu Itagaki's Devil's Third for a few extra bucks.During that same investor call, the company also reiterated that the Turtle Rock Studios (Left 4 Dead) FPS and Patrice Désilets' game, speculated to be 1666, are still in production.
THQ executive explains WAR40K's new non-MMO direction
For those curious about the fate of Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online, Ripten recently interviewed THQ executive Danny Bilson regarding the game's future. You'll recall that late last month, THQ announced that DMO would shed its MMO skin and reinvent itself as a single-player title. Bilson says that much of what makes the game unique will remain intact, and most importantly, WAR40K "is still sitting with the people who invented it five years ago, and honestly, they are incredibly excited about the new direction." While you wouldn't expect anything less than positive spin from a bigwig whose company has seen better days, the interview still manages to make the new title sound pretty intriguing. "If you liked Space Marine, you're gonna love this thing. It's much deeper. Space Marine was designed as a console experience. This one has tremendous multiplayer gameplay, and there is a lot going on in this game that's spectacular," Bilson says.
THQ's Bilson outs Saints Row 4, says it'll be much 'wilder'
There's no doubt that the Saints Row franchise is a big deal for THQ -- especially now, since the publisher just killed one of its biggest -- and it looks like work on a fourth entry is already underway. THQ's Executive VP of Bean Spilling, Danny Bilson, dropped the news during a video interview with G4, saying that he thinks the next Saints Row game will be much wilder than the third. Dildo bats that shoot dildo bats full of tiny dildo confetti, anyone? Hit the jump for the video.
THQ's Bilson 'not sure there's room' for Space Marine sequel alongside MMO
Joystiq got a chance to chat with THQ's Executive Vice President of Core Games, Danny Bilson, at a Saints Row: The Third event earlier this week. He spoke to us about Space Marine's chances for a sequel, and what he plans for THQ this holiday and beyond. Bilson says Warhammer 40K: Space Marine is "doing okay," and that "40K fans in particular" were pleased. "It's a really good game, it's doing pretty well. In this world, honestly, you have to do exceptionally well to make any money, because the games are so expensive." Bilson hopes the game keeps selling, and expects the impending release of co-op DLC and "more DLC after that" to help maintain its momentum. He balks at promising a sequel, however, saying that the Space Marine gameplay may bump up against THQ's planned Warhammer 40K MMO, Dark Millennium, in 2013. "We've already announced the Imperium in the MMO as a class you can play," he says, "and if you combine that it's very active, as opposed to the more turn-based stuff. I'm not sure there's room for Space Marine." But there is more coming for you, battle brothers: "We are heavily invested in the 40K universe, so there's more stuff coming in the 40K universe, absolutely. We extended the deal for quite a while."
Dark Millennium Online has conflict of interest with potential Space Marine sequel
If you've been waiting for the upcoming Warhammer 40k MMO Dark Millennium Online, you may have checked out recent single-player title Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. In an interview on the two games with Shacknews last night, THQ's VP of Core Games Danny Bilson described a potential conflict of interest between the upcoming MMO and any potential Space Marine sequel. When asked whether the single-player title deserved a sequel, Bilson described an interesting creative overlap between the game and its upcoming MMO counterpart. Revealing that the MMO would contain more action-based gameplay than the MMO norm, Bilson painted a picture of Dark Millennium Online as an online spiritual successor to Space Marine but with the other 40k factions similarly explored. "It may be that the next iteration of Space Marine is a much bigger universe, where if you love Space Marines you can play that way," he told Shacknews, adding that "there was a creative overlap going on with Dark Millennium Online's development" and "there's not room in the world for that overlap."
Crytek developing Homefront sequel with THQ
Having shuttered Kaos Studios, the developer of Homefront, THQ has secured a new partnership to develop the next title in the FPS franchise. A sequel to Homefront will be developed in collaboration with Crytek, the company behind Far Cry, Crysis and the visually opulent CryEngine platform. "We see Homefront as a really strong universe that has a lot of potential and that has been expertly created and marketed by THQ," said Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli. He's certainly right about the expert marketing. After plastering America with adverts, THQ overcame tepid critical response and shipped over 2.6 million copies of Homefront by the end of March 2011. Yerli suggests that Crytek has been granted a reassuring amount of "creative freedom" over Homefront, and aims to bring its war-ravaged world to life "in a new and innovative way." It'll take some time, though -- the Homefront sequel is scheduled to launch on PC and consoles in THQ's fiscal 2014, meaning anywhere between April 2013 and March 2014. Update: Joystiq has confirmed that the Homefront sequel will be built by Crytek's Nottingham, UK studio on the "latest" CryEngine technology.
Dark Millennium Online to be playable at E3 2012
While last week's E3 is still fresh in our minds and hearts, THQ is giving us a great reason to look forward to next year's expo: the chance to get our hands on Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online. Eurogamer reports that THQ is committing to this time frame. Danny Bilson says that WAR40K will be the highlight of the company's display: "Next year, I promise you, next E3. I've already got plans for what the booth is like. The centrepiece of the booth will be that MMO." We caught only a glimpse of a teaser trailer for the game at this year's E3. Vigil Games is hard at work on the $50+ million project, and Bilson says that it's looking good and on track for a launch between April 2012 and March 2013. "It looks fabulous. I like it. I can't speak to it now, or people will kill me. But, I'll tell you what, it plays differently. A little bit... This thing is gonna be special," he said. "We're going to come out when we come out in a big way. I feel like we're fully competitive with the other guys. It'll be seven years in the making when it comes out. We're competing with the best games in the world. You can't mess around with this thing."
Dawn of War 3 further detailed by THQ's Danny Bilson
THQ executive vice president Danny Bilson is known for his many things -- his gorgeous shock of graphite hair, his devil-may-care attitude, a movie star daughter. But in the game industry, he's best known for speaking loosely and passionately about his company's yet-to-be-revealed projects. A recent interview with Eurogamer is no exception, with Bilson offering a small brigade of details on Dawn of War 3. Bilson says that the sequel to 2009's Dawn of War 2 is in development "right now," and is a mix of new elements with features from the first two titles. He also admitted that his company will be making a game announcement at GamesCom in the PC gamer-friendly country of Germany, which we're taking a wild guess is the official reveal of DoW3. We'll be on the ground in Cologne this August to bring you more details. [Pictured: Dawn of War 2]
inSane planned as trilogy, but 'if the first game doesn't work, there won't be a trilogy,' Bilson says
Guillermo del Toro's forthcoming franchise for THQ -- the awkwardly innercapped inSane -- may be planned as a trilogy, but that doesn't mean it'll necessarily play out that way. Though THQ is confident in del Toro and the franchise, Core Games veep Danny Bilson has a realistic outlook on the franchise's ability to expand to a trilogy. "We have aspirations to make a trilogy," Bilson told a gathering of press at GDC this week, including Joystiq. "If the first game doesn't work, there won't be a trilogy. It's not complicated." Bilson cited Hollywood's ability to make trilogies as an example of how not complicated this concept is. "If Avatar had been a flop then there wouldn't be two more sequels. And if the first Matrix wasn't a success there wouldn't be two more sequels." For Bilson and THQ, it means delivering quality products first. "We have to succeed on the first one. And then we have to succeed on the second one! And then you can make the third one. It's not really that arrogant, if you will, to plan a trilogy because we're very realistic." And unlike Hollywood, "we can't make two at once," Bilson jokes. "It doesn't cost that much to plan, right?" Volition president Mike Kulas said. "We're not building a bunch of assets for the future games." Instead, Kulas estimates that "a couple percent of the total budget of the second game will be spent before we have a better idea of how the first one's shaping up." As the studio responsible for collaborating with Del Toro on inSane, Volition has to succeed where many others have failed: working with Hollywood to create a successful video game franchise.
Homefront is most pre-ordered title in THQ history
Say what you will about the silly and even careless marketing campaign for Homefront, but it appears to be working, as THQ core games VP Danny Bilson told Eurogamer that Homefront has racked up more pre-orders than any other game in the publisher's history. Bilson didn't reveal worldwide numbers, though he noted that 200,000 pre-orders have been made in the US alone. That would seem to be good news for developer Kaos Studios, whose employees voiced concern over a possible studio move or closure after Homefront's completion. Bilson intimated that the developer's fate rests on the success of the game, saying that sales would "help influence" what might happen going forward; and he insisted THQ hasn't made any decisions at this point. "That's the truth." "A lot of it has to do with how successful [Homefront] is and how strong that core team comes out on the other side," said Bilson, adding that he "loves" Kaos and that THQ is "trying to do what's best for everyone."
Seen@GDC: Dillinger Escape Plan tears through the Homefront rally
10,000 red balloons? Sure. Speeches by global experts? You bet! A whole mess of hired protesters? Also that! But Dillinger Escape Plan? That we did not expect to see at THQ's Homefront rally this morning outside of GDC. And how does THQ's veep of Core Games explain the inclusion of the hardcore show? "They're a great local band who would bring people out!" he told us. "Even in the rain!" And we can't help but agree with the former statement (aren't they from New Jersey, Danny?). Alongside the red (allegedly biodegradeable) balloons and red Homefront signs Dillinger Escape Plan fans and passersby both enjoyed the hardcore music stylings of classic Dillinger Escape Plan tunes. There's also a strong possibility that some folks were moshing. Bilson continued, explaining the rally as a means "to highlight the story aspects of Homefront." He also hesitantly admitted, "We're trying to do more and more things to market our game. Just trying to do something different, ya know?" He further detailed the rally as showing off Homefront's "social science fiction," and hopes it'll "get people thinking about more than just pulling triggers." It certainly got us thinking about more than just pulling triggers. For instance -- making sure we weren't being trampled by die-hard Dillinger Escape Plan fans.%Gallery-118275%
THQ nearly signed Respawn, but IP ownership was a deal-breaker
THQ vice president Danny Bilson recently told Wired about a potentially powerful, but ultimately thwarted partnership the company sought early last year, with ex-Infinity Ward heads Vince Zampella and Jason West's new ensemble, Respawn Entertainment. According to Bilson, the deal almost went through, though one point in the THQ contract was a deal-breaker for the young developer: Respawn wanted ownership of any IP it created while in the publisher's employ. "My responsibility to our stockholders and to my CEO and the company is to build an IP library," Bilson explained, adding that granting their request would "open the doors for everyone else to say, 'I wanna own it too.'". Zampella corroborated Bilson's story, explaining, "As for the IP ownership, frankly, after what we'd just been through with Activision, owning the IP we were going to create was important to us." We can't possibly imagine why.
THQ's Bilson: Metro 2033 'wasn't properly nurtured,' sequel to address issues
Last March, Metro 2033 snuck up on our reviewer radar and went on to earn respectable Metacritic scores of 77 on Xbox 360 and 81 on PC among critics at large. Though THQ CEO Brian Farrell characterized the title as "very profitable" for the publisher, it wasn't exactly burning up the sales charts. Speaking with the company's VP of Core Games, Danny Bilson, this week, we asked about Metro 2033 falling short of its potential. "I'll give you the straight answer: It wasn't properly supported in all areas," Bilson said frankly. "It was a cool deal," he explained of the publishing agreement with developer 4A Games, "where it was inexpensive and they were doing their stuff." "Did the game need polish in certain areas? Yes." he admitted. "So when I say it wasn't fully supported, it was product development and marketing that didn't support it the way it should've been." Bilson described Metro 2033 as "an orphan stepchild," saying that "a great marketer picked it up with four months to go and did what he could with four months to go, but it wasn't properly nurtured by marketing." The absence of polish, Bilson assured, won't be an issue for Metro 2034, the in-development sequel. "The new one doesn't have any of those issues," Bilson said. "I green-lit the sequel before [the first] one shipped, because I know what [4A Games is] capable of -- I knew how cool it was."
THQ needs your money to publish more Double Fine games
Between the adorable (and enjoyable) Costume Quest last October, and the forthcoming (and quite charming) Stacking some time this year, we're quite looking forward to the other two downloadable titles in Double Fine's four game roadmap. And though THQ isn't the only publisher that could release them, it would sure like to be. "I really wanna do a lot more with Tim [Schafer]. I've always been a huge Tim fan. Grim Fandango to me is one of the greatest works of art in gaming," THQ Core Games head Danny Bilson gushed to us this afternoon. He said the choice to publish Stacking was an easy one. "Stacking I fell in love with. When Tim brought that in, I was like, 'Let's do this game! This is fantastic!'," he said. The game was later moved to THQ's "Kids, Family, and Casual" department (like Costume Quest), though Bilson's desire to publish more Double Fine games clearly hasn't diminished. He reiterated that, currently, his studio only has a two-game contract with Double Fine: the aforementioned Costume Quest and Stacking. "There's a few more that I've identified, but I haven't made those deals yet," Bilson told us. He then paused before adding, "We've gotta get some hits rolling so I have more money to spend, to be honest with you." And between Homefront, Red Faction: Armageddon and Stacking, there's ample opportunity for that money to be made in the first quarter of 2011.
Itagaki's Valhalla Game Studios sharing tech with Relic for Devil's Third
Among the many things touched on by THQ Core Games head Danny Bilson in his speech this morning was Tomonobu Itagaki's post-Team Ninja home, Valhalla Game Studios. Rather than speak to when we'll hear more about Devil's Third, Bilson outed Itagaki's current location: Vancouver, Canada. Apparently, the head of Valhalla Studios and some of his team are "in Vancouver at Relic Studios, partnering with Relic on a few really cool aspects of the technology in their game." Bilson brought this up in an effort to explain how THQ treats, "all our external teams as internal teams" -- Relic Entertainment is owned by THQ, while Valhalla is self-owned -- and that means sharing technology on a regular basis. We later clarified with Bilson that this means Relic is contributing in some way to Devil's Third (rather than vice versa), leaving us to speculate what this could mean Devil's Third -- an extra space marine or two? Some form of hybrid ninja slash marine thing? Ohhhh, right, that already exists. How could we have forgotten?
Patrice Desilets bringing three 'key members' from Ubisoft to THQ Montreal
"I trust him ... basically it's all about trust and support," THQ's "Core Games" head Danny Bilson told us in an interview this morning, speaking about soon-to-be THQ Montreal studio head Patrice Désilets. Bilson was detailing the hiring of "key members" for Désilets' team, something he briefly mentioned during a stage presentation that kicked off the company's NYC "gamer's week" today. He wanted to reiterate that THQ Montreal is entirely in Désilets trusted hands. When we pressed Bilson for more info on the new hires, he couldn't name anyone specific, though he would confirm all three people are from Ubisoft. "I don't think I can talk about the other three people we've already contracted because I wouldn't ... I just know Patrice said, 'I need these three guys.' And I said 'Okay! Whatever you need!'," Bilson said. "We put all of them on retention and got them started on their non-competes [non-compete clauses]. I kind of know what their roles are, but they were the most important people to Patrice. All three of them are Ubi." Which isn't to say that Désilets is doing anything nefarious. Bilson assured us that the forthcoming hires will be, "not just Ubi, but people from the community in Montreal and all over the world." And none of this is happening just yet. Désilets doesn't start at THQ until May 29 ("when his non-compete ends"), so it'll be quite some time before we see the fruits of THQ's largest studio yet.
THQ logo revamped for a new focus on 'innovation and creativity'
You know that old, silly THQ logo? The one where it looks like the letters are going high speed? That is now, officially, old and busted. As seen above, the publisher unveiled its new logo (aka "the new hotness") this morning, with company head Brian Farrell noting, "Our new logo epitomizes the change, innovation and creative growth that are the cornerstones of the new THQ." Farrell is of course speaking to the past few years of major changes at THQ, kicked off with the hiring of core games VP Danny Bilson in early 2008 and followed by several successful business choices in the subsequent years -- everything from achieving cost-cutting goals early on to brokering deals with top talent. The new logo will start making retail product appearances this February and "will be rolled out over the next few months" in other venues. Goodbye speedy THQ logo, hello crazy future-font THQ logo!
