Take-Two CEO Lays The SmackDown on THQ’s Financial Standing

Joystiq is reporting comments made by Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in regards to THQ's current financial troubles, at MIT Business in Games. He's none too impressed with how the publisher has handled their transition into a focus on core games and he appears to make an example out of them for what not to do.

"THQ's strategy was licensed properties, first and foremost. License stuff from other people, whether it's UFC or WWE or a motion picture property, and make a game around that.And our approach, since we took over the company, is 100 percent owned intellectual property.

The most important difference is quality. Take-Two has the highest quality ratings among third-party publishers, according to Metacritic and most people in the industry. Quality really, really, really matters. THQ has had some good game, but their quality levels aren't even remotely … the quality hasn't measured up.

Strategy didn't work and the execution was bad. To put it another way: the food was no good and the portions were small. THQ won't be around in six months."

Ouch. While it might seem like Zelnick is bringing it harder than WWE '12 ever could, the mistakes made by the THQ and their inevitable fate is no secret in the industry. The announcement that would be indeed be cancelling plans for a Dawn of War MMO felt like a medium's vision (that medium being Kevin Dent) coming to fruition.

I'm no analyst, but in my own obserbation, it seems THQ spent far too much time and money making AAA development deals while AAA games far and few between. And even when they did, results were hit and miss. Saint's Row: The Third may have sold 4 million units, yes, but if you remember, the game could found online at half price every other day almost immediately after lauch. The revenue gained there isn't going to be the same as say Red Dead Redemption moving the same amount of units in the same ammount of time because, as I recall it, that game was never on sale.

Ah well. My only hope is that upon THQ's collapse, the talented teams they own (namely Volition and Vigil) find new homes.