Posts Tagged ‘thq’

THQ launches Facebook first: UFC backed social fighter

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

In conjunction with Zuffa LLC, THQ has recently announced a social addition to their UFC Undisputed game franchise. UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship is based on the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) organization of the same name.

“We are really excited to offer the UFC Undisputed Fight Nation game on Facebook,” UFC President Dana White said. “We understand the power of Facebook and this is a great way for fans to connect to the UFC.”

Developed by Embassy Interactive , the new social addition to the UFC family is platformed on Facebook, and allows users to engage their careers by training moves, and fighting other would-be-title-holders. In addition to competing and bragging amongst their friends, players of the UFC Undisputed Fight Nation have the opportunity to work their way up the ladder to eventually fight some of the UFC’s most well known combatants.

“We are excited about the tremendous opportunities available in the social networking space to deliver key franchises to our core audiences in unique and compelling ways,” said Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President, Core Games, THQ. “UFC Undisputed Fight Nation delivers a great combination of gameplay, competitive spirit and replay value, making it the perfect fit for millions around the world to enjoy on Facebook.”

UFC Undisputed Fight Nation is now available on Facebook at apps.facebook.com/ufcnation.

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IGA provider Massive Inc. signs Blizzard – workin’ hard for the money

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

Holy smokes is Redmond turning up the heat.  In less than a week, the relatively quiet IGA (in game advertising) arm of Microsoft: Massive Inc. has sent up two very loud and clear flares, signaling that they are indeed very real, and mean business.  Last week, THQ, this week Blizzard, next week????

Massive announced yesterday that they’ve inked a multiyear deal with Blizzard Entertainment Inc. as exclusive advertising service provider for Blizzard’s website and Battle.net game service in the US, Canada, Europe, South Korea and Australia.

Sadly, Massive wasn’t able to achieve complete and total ad world domination, BUT…to really put the icing on this chocolate slice of IGA love, they’ve also announced that they’re teaming up with Intergi Inc., the world’s largest web-based video game and interactive entertainment network and advertising representation company.  This duo will power and provide ads to the massive (yes, pun intended) Blizzard audience.  Integri is currently powered by Microsfot Atlas AdManager platform, delivering advertising across it’s 700+ sites.

“We are thrilled to work with two industry pioneers; both Massive and Blizzard are two of today’s leading names in the world of gaming, and their confidence in our network and advertising representation services is a true testament to what Intergi offers when it comes to reaching today’s gaming enthusiast,” said Jayson Dubin, CEO of Intergi.

Massive will be delivering ads to an already captive audience across Blizzards’ network of heavily trafficked sites including Battle.net.  Titles across these sites include StarCraft, Warcraft, and Diablo series of games including the upcoming StarCraft II and Diablo III.  And naturally, Massive will be serving up fresh advertising goodness across the jewel in Blizzards crown: ‘World of Warcraft’ website.

COO Paul Sams has already anticipated the questions coming from all sides, and decided to squash any rumor mills before they even ground to life, “Our decision to partner with Massive was based on several important factors, including their technical expertise, global sales presence, and willingness to work with us to ensure advertisements appear only in contexts and environments that make sense,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “This partnership does not include in-game advertising, as Massive understands and respects our stance against advertising that might detract from gameplay or offend our players.”

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THQ and Massively sign multi-year exclusive in-game advertising deal

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

THQ.  It’s been a banner year for them.  From opening a new office in Shanghai, to bringing Dragonica to the North American market, these guys are on a roll.  So it should come as no great surprise to hear that THQ has yet again taken things to the next level.  They’ve recently announced their signing of a multi-year deal with Microsoft owned, in-game advertising network Massively.

This agreement will place Massively as THQ’s exclusive in-game advertising partner for all upcoming PC and Xbox video game titles.  The agreement will provide for in-game advertising inclusion in a number of THQ’s existing titles including “Saints Row” and “Saints Row 2”, which shipped over 2M units globally during the first 2 weeks of it’s October release.

“By aligning with THQ, Massive is now poised to represent new content and franchises that are realizing enormous market success globally,” said Eric Bassman, COO of Massive. “And with an open-world, mission-based game such as “Saints Row 2″ coming into the Massive network, we can work creatively with advertisers to place their brands in new, edgy environments.”

THQ EVP of publishing Scott Guthrie adds, “We have entered into a strategic agreement with Massive because it is a leader in the emerging industry of in-game advertising.”

“The Massive team has a strong track record of collaborating with game developers, sports leagues and advertisers to find a unique way to place brands and products that enhance the gameplay experience.”

By adding THQ to their already impressive roster, Massively now has even more leverage and more importantly, eyeballs, on it’s in-game ads.  THQ’s inventory extends across a wide range of game titles, and varied demographics, thereby offering new advertising opportunities to brands seeking to reach a traditionally difficult market.

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THQ and Korean firm Vertigo to tackle Asian online PC market

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

Keep your eyes pealed alert:  THQ bringing the WWE to Korea and additional Asian Markets.

THQ.  Man, no moss growing on these guys.  In addition to the Dragonica release schedule for North America next year, the Shanghai office is clearly up and running with the announcement of a late 2010 launch for WWE SmackDown vs. RAW Online for Korean PC gamers.

Tim Page and Kevin Chu are clearly takin’ care of business in their new digs at the THQ office.  The duo has enlisted Korean development studio Vertigo Games to help in development and aid the transition of a Western wrestling title into the Asian market.  Vertigo has already scored a few home runs of it’s own with the online fighter Kwonho and the MM military shooter Black Shot.

SmackDown! Vs. RAW Online will allow players to play in either single player or multiplayer mode, and take their wrestler through various matches of achievement, with the ultimate end goal of being inducted into the WWE hall of fame.  A microtransaciton model will allow all aspiring Hacksaw Duggans to purchase items, abilities and themes to aid them on their way, and customize game play.

While no official release date has been pegged for the rest of the Asian market, let’s not forget that THQ has o’plenty on it’s plate as it is.  They’ve got Company of Heroes on tap for an Asian market release,  Dragonica coming up, and let’s not forget about Warhammer 40,000.
“We are pleased to bring the #1 fighting franchise, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw, to an online format, offering gamers an immersive online experience based on the world of the WWE,” says THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell. “We view the online game market as an important driver of future growth and this new title further expands our portfolio of great games for this exciting market.”

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THQ to bring ‘Dragonica’ to North American market

Sunday, September 21st, 2008

It looks like THQ is wasting no time in getting the new Shanghai office into the game.  They’ve recently announced a joint venture in cooperation with ICE Entertainment to bring Dragonica to the North American market in 2009.

Dragonica will be a cartoony, sticky sweet, side scrolling game that is free-to-play and supported by pay-for-content micro-transactions.  The game was developed by Korean design house Barunson Interactive Co.  Dragonica has spent sever years in the development shop, and is finally ready for it’s coming out party.  With 3D rendering, new cartoon characters and scenery modeling, Dragonica promised to raise the bar on traditional side scrolling games.  The game mixes elements of action and arcade, and creates various skills to enhance play.  ICE realized the potential of Dragonica, and has the exclusive rights to operate Dragonica in China.

ICE’s CEO Sun Tai is the former CTO of Chinese major player, The9, a leading operator of Chinese online games including World of Warcraft.  This joint venture will combine ICE’s online operating expertise and THQ’s product development and retail experience to create a new platform for the North American market.

“We are extremely excited to be working with ICE Entertainment to bring this free-to-play, micro-transaction-based online game to the robust yet largely untapped market for online casual gaming in North America,” said Doug Clemmer, president of THQ’s casual gaming subsidiary. “We are even more pleased to be building a strong and mutually beneficial relationship, which we hope will lead to additional opportunities to deliver online gaming content globally.”

“We are looking forward to combining THQ’s extensive marketing and retail expertise with our advanced technology and proven online game operating know-how to deliver a great new casual gaming experience for North American consumers,” said Sun Tao, chief executive officer, ICE Entertainment. “We also look forward to working with THQ more closely to develop new games and explore future publishing opportunities in both markets.”

Current estimates of the North American casual game market peg it at approximately $2.2 billion by 2013 (DFC Intelligence).  In 2007, China’s online games market clocked in at a whopping $1.7 billion, and reached 42 million gamers.  According to Niko Partners, this market is expected to balloon to $4.2 billion by 2010.

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Chinese online gaming market hits $645 Million in Q2

Monday, August 18th, 2008

A recent press release by Digitimes places the combined market value of the China online gaming market at $645 M (4.43 billion yuan).

With an explosive growth rate, this places the market at an 11.2% growth over Q1, and a 65.9% increase on the year.  Big players Shanda (Who recently partnered with THQ to release Company of Heroes in a microtransaction format), Netease, and Giant (formerly Zheng Tu) took the top three spots respectively.

While the Chinese output is already an impressive showing of growth, with more and more chinese titles being filtered, translated and repackaged for North American shores, one can only wonder if the sky truly is the limit for Chinese developers?  Will these titles in combination with EA’s Battlefield Heroes, and ID’s Quake microtransaction based games finally break the mold and lead to overall acceptance by the North American gaming community?  Only time will tell.

via Digitimes

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Company of Heroes released as microtransaction title in Asia

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

While boatloads of information was pouring out of LA at E3, it seems like THQ decided to give popular title Company of Heroes it’s unveiling in the Asian market.

Kotaku recently reported on the release, summing up what we were all thinking….how did this one get past me?  THQ’s Company of Heroes is their push at bringing the RTS game into the Asian online market.  They’ve taken the core CoH experience, slimmed it down a bit, and tailored it for online gaming.

The ‘new’ Company of Heroes is a free to play, micro-transaction based title that falls nicely inline with the Asian style of play.  Some of the gameplay changes include persistent online characters that will help you level up and carry across battles.  These ‘Hero’ units will have charged ‘super powers’ which go along with the new commander tree which includes 48 separate abilities/powers.

In order to show it’s support and dedication to the title, THQ have opened a Chinese office in order to launch the game.   A Korean version is soon to follow, and a Western version after that.

While never having an ‘official’ Chinese release, Company of Heroes already has a massive following in China.

Relic Entertainment General Manager Tarrnie Williams comments, “We know that there are at least one million pirated copies of the game in China,” noting that every time a patch is released, more than one million updates are applied from Chinese IPs – for a game that’s never been released at retail in China. In Sun Tzu fashion, THQ / Relic thinks it can turn this retailing weakness into a strength.

Williams firmly believes that the microtransaction model’s “got big legs”. James added that market hesitation (especially in the West) is primarily due to the low graphical and gameplay quality of games available in the free-to-play online space, two counts of which no reasonable players’ or critics’ jury could ever find Company of Heroes guilty of.

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