THQ has developed something of a reputation over the years for licensed titles based on kids franchises like Nicktoons and Pixar films. However, the company is reporting a slowdown in this sector, and so the focus will instead be shifted to core titles like Homefront.
“We have re-evaluated our kids movie-based licenses and have lowered our expectations for games in this segment,” said THQ CEO Brian Farrell.
As far as successful properties, THQ pointed to uDraw tablet, which shipped 1.2 million copies over the holidays, and the upcoming De Blob 2. While they will make games based uponSpongeBob and Mattel franchises, Farrell is less optimistic about other parts of the market.
“The single-player kids’ games, particularly those based on movie licenses, were the ones that showed the most weakness,” Farrell explained. “What we learned this holiday season is new stuff, innovative stuff… you do something new and consumers, especially kids, respond to that. The single-player, ‘see the movie, play the game’ experience is what seems, at this time, not to be working.
Source: Gamasutra
