Red Faction Franchise Killed

43 Comments

Posted July 27, 2011 - By Stephen Johnson

It's not exactly a surprise that Red Faction: Armageddon didn't sell all that well, but it's interesting (and a little sad) that THQ publicly acknowledges it.

“We are disappointed in our first quarter financial performance. Sales of Red Faction: Armageddon and our licensed kids titles were below our expectations, and the late release of UFC Personal Trainer also adversely impacted the quarter,” said Brian Farrell, THQ President and Chief Executive Officer during an Investor conference call today.

As for what this means for the franchise, it isn't good. Farrel said THQ doesn't intend to continue on with the Red Faction franchise "in any meaningful way."

THQ aren't just wistfully looking back at the past quarter and bemoaning the sales that might of been --For the three months that ended June 30, 2011, the company reported a net loss of $38.4 million -- The company is looking forward to a bright future too. THQ is continuing to follow a four point strategy toward financial success:

Create a digital ecosystem around key title console launches such as the November 15 release of Saints Row: The Third, which includes a robust DLC schedule, online Season Pass, and in-game store for consumables.
Create a critical mass of users on social media platforms such as Facebook and mobile platforms including iOS and AndroidTM, using THQ-owned or branded content, such as the upcoming fall release of Margaritaville® Online based on Jimmy Buffett’s popular brand;
Create an ongoing digital revenue stream with the launch of the company’s MMO, Warhammer® 40,000®: Dark Millennium™ Online; and
Continue to drive digital end user sales through existing channels as well as the re-launch of THQ.com.

Any financial plan that relies on Jimmy Buffet is bound to succeed. Have you heard that guy sing? Ka-pow!

In an interesting bit of the investor conference call held today, CEO Farrell said that one of the reasons Saints Row The Third will sell so well is because "It's a very unique game. There is nothing like it."

I can think of one series that's a little like it... It starts with the initials G.T.A.

In any case, if you're really super curious about THQ's financial health, the company says:

THQ reported net sales of $195.2 million, compared with $149.4 million in the prior-year period. On a non-GAAP basis, for the three months ended June 30, 2011, the company reported net sales of $141.2 million, compared with $160.3 million a year ago.

Hey, buddy. Follow my twitter feed!

Tags: Videogames

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Wozman23

Red Factions wasn't bad, but it wasn't phenomenal either. THQ needs better developers. Their games just don't stand up against the other publishers. So to quote Jimmy Buffett: It's they're own damn fault!

Posted: July 27, 2011 8:31 PM
pingerdinger

been a red faction fan ever since the ps2 games, and armageddon eclipses red faction 2 as the worst red faction game. You don't bring space games too Earth. and you don't take open destructable worlds to caves

Posted: July 27, 2011 8:27 PM
mildpooptastic

I LOVED! Red Faction Guerilla! And when i learned they made the HORRIBLE decision to turn it inyo the only UNIQUE super FUN OPEN WORLD inventive destructible excellent sandbox game into some crappy Dead Space clone i flipped out!

I sent them endless emails about what a huge mistake they were making and how Armegeddon would fail! I even called to try and tell the head of violition to rethink this horrible horrible decision. BUT! I guess they decided to go with a potential studio closer. Sad

but please just make a sequel to Guerilla! Your a talented team I know it!

Posted: July 27, 2011 8:19 PM
JWCamp

Is Jimmy Buffet still alive?

Posted: July 27, 2011 7:04 PM
d_dirdy

Of course Saints Row is like GTA because Saints Row is a clone and a very good clone at that. That's why it's going to do well. You can compare all day which game is better but the fact of the matter is that GTA went the realistic route and Saints Row went towards of what Vice City and San Andreas did but got high and took things further than what we could have imagine. Yes GTA has the better story but Saints Row is more fun for the fact you can mess up the city while the game keeps score and customize everything. Saints Row is one of the few clones to get a sequel let alone two sequels so Volition and THQ are doing something right in my opinion.

Posted: July 27, 2011 6:37 PM
thejman85

am glad stop making that piece of dog poo game

Posted: July 27, 2011 6:16 PM
TheBRADLeyB

Was Red Fraction a Sanbox game?... It's been so long since I've played the original I can only remember being a FPS and trying to find out the source of the Miner's Plague...

Anyway Red Fraction could be a very good game if they rebooted the series and did it WELL (which is something THQ won't be able to do because the people that do their game direction aren't the best)

The entire concept of the first one, people 'tricked' into indentured servitude (which becomes full life slavery) and forced into mining the Red Planet. Then a plague begins killing miners and unrest finally begins to lead to revolution.

I never finished the game. I was younger and the game had to go back to Blockbuster or Spotlight Video or something, but it was kind of an intriguing game and idea. The last RF game before this one (the one where in MP everything was destructible) seemed fun. I didn't play the game but I enjoyed the demo. Where it was fun gameplay I just wasn't that good at it and I found it to be clunky to me (since I didn't understand a lot of demo/game's factions)

This last one I saw an image of some guy underground shooting electricity from his hands and I immediately had no interest.

I say you reboot the series, take a realistic approach to it and don't try to copy off everyone else's games.

I do kind of like THQ's honesty. Didn't their VP or CEO come out and say, "Metro 2033 Failed and it's not because it's a bad game, it's because we failed to market it as we should have"?

I also think Edios should swallow some pride, team up with Ubisoft and reboot the Thief series in an 'Assassin's Creed' style gameplay.

Then again I just want Thief playable on my console because I LOVE IT!

Posted: July 27, 2011 6:04 PM
JustTheBeginning

Thats what happens when you turn a unique sandbox game into another crappy 3rd person Gears wannabe.

Posted: July 27, 2011 5:47 PM
DPsx72

Here's a hint - try something that ISN'T a shooter.

Posted: July 27, 2011 5:31 PM
dz99ls

This is sad news i enjoyed the red faction games

Posted: July 27, 2011 5:18 PM
SonyNmbrOneGuy

Here's an idea. Remake the original Red Faction.

Posted: July 27, 2011 5:06 PM
Scalfer1

Darksiders, and ALL of their Warhammer 40k products seem to be their best-selling series'. which is NOT a bad thing, cuz i LOVE 40k and i can NOT wait for Darksiders 2. and Homefront MIGHT continue to do something

Posted: July 27, 2011 4:45 PM
silent_deadly_6

This sucks I enjoyed Armageddon and hearing that the series won't continue is a shame.

Posted: July 27, 2011 4:44 PM
cardinalsfan1122

Thats disappointing but I'm still confident in THQ as a brand and trust that my shares in the company will grow.

Posted: July 27, 2011 4:39 PM
lowkevmic

When did Red Faction ever do well??? It has always been a late bloomer for gamers. I didn't even know about how fun the last Red Faction was until I got a free copy when I bought a pre order copy of Darksiders.

And c'mon folks it's THQ. Can anyone really name any classic blockbuster games from them...?...Don't worry I'll wait.

Posted: July 27, 2011 4:28 PM
savagehulk23

thats sad cause red was a good series even the last game was good and who would want to train like a ufc fighter.Saints row is a good game but ur going to neeed stronger games to compete saints row comes out after skyrim and uncharted 3 my money is going on those ill get saints row in jan now the sales are going to be dissapponting and kill thats seris too that would suck. Im hoping it gets delayed or pushed back a few months

Posted: July 27, 2011 4:16 PM
AngelsandDemons

This game would have been a killer if it was a digital download for 20 bucks....the economic crunch has people reluctant to drop 60 bones on a B list title. I enjoyed the demo but would only buy it at a lower price or a rental.

Posted: July 27, 2011 4:11 PM
crocodilius

That's cute calling saints row unique.

Posted: July 27, 2011 4:09 PM
PinkCrayon32

yeah, in this case the developer is in fault. some pretty bad decisions where made in the production of this game. the first one wasn't great, but the open world destruction was really great. and they took that out of this game. what's left? a boring linear third person shooter with some neat weapons. shame.

Posted: July 27, 2011 4:02 PM
Bigburito

of course red faction armageddon didn't do well! they took the main draw of the game (destroying ridiculously huge buildings in inventive ways) and instead opted to make it fairly linear and have rock walls around all the things you could destroy leaving you with very little to actually play around with...

now what they should have done is put it in space, get the jet pack gameplay of dark void, the destructible environments of red faction, and the gravity style of super mario galaxy to make it so you can stick to the outsides of a space ship and have traditional gravity once you get inside the air lock (so whenever there's air you walk around like normal but if you say, blow out a wall of a section of a ship it becomes zero G in that area) seriously space would be the perfect place for a game about blowing stuff up, it's wide open, and everything in it (space ships/stations) can be broken compared to the planet settings of the other titles where the dirt was the main thing that held back the destruction! if they made it I would buy multiple copies so that me and a bunch of friends could dick around...IN SPACE!!!!

Posted: July 27, 2011 3:55 PM