THQ: Quality of current titles enhanced by recent mass layoffs
Danny Bilson, who is now the executive VP of Core Games at THQ following last week's shuffle, says that shutting down several studios and dismissing 550 employees was necessary to create the "new THQ." He explains to GI.biz that the surviving studios were given more money to enhance the "quality" (another buzzword around THQ lately) of the titles in development. Bilson notes Red Faction: Guerrilla was given four extra months and millions in cash, which he believes was "worth every penny" -- reviewers apparently agree.
The full interview with Bilson is quite notable for how frankly the executive discusses the prior state of the company, which lost $431 million last year. He explains that convincing executives that change was necessary wasn't difficult because THQ was in a "failure state." He also continues to drum home the point that the company is invested in focusing on the quality of its future core titles.
