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View Full Version : THQ CEO talks up cloud gaming, plans 40 weeks of Saints Row 3 DLC



jkipp82
09-08-2011, 11:55 PM
2325
THQ CEO Brian Farrell spoke highly of cloud gaming yesterday, which should come as no surprise to anyone who's seen THQ's frequent OnLive deals (http://www.joystiq.com/tag/thq,onlive), or to anyone who knew that he happened to be speaking at the Cloud Gaming USA (http://www.cgconfusa.com/) conference.


Farrell predicted that a move to discless, all-digital game distribution "will result in a lower cost for the hardware manufacturer, which will result in a lower cost to consumers and therefore a lower entry point, thus driving more mass market adoption." It's something he sees not just PC-based services, but consoles doing as well -- though he didn't really specify "cloud" there vs. just downloading games.

And speaking of downloading content, Saints Row: The Third (http://joystiq.com/game/saints-row-the-third) is going to have some -- a lot, actually. Farrell said that the game would be followed by roughly 40 weeks of DLC. "We totally change how we keep consumer engaged for a very long time," Farrell said. "We intend to create an online digital ecosystem that keeps them interested for a year or more." It's the same kind of approach THQ tried with MX vs. ATV Alive (http://www.joystiq.com/game/mx-vs-atv-alive), except without the base game having reduced content to start -- or a reduced price.

"What we found was unlike free to play, $39.99 [the budget-level price of MX vs. ATV] just wasn't low enough to drive a big enough install base to push the level of DLC we had initially hoped for." It will be interesting to see if that kind of strategy works with a game that is more complete, and fully priced.

pureIso
09-09-2011, 04:16 PM
We are not ready for all digital gaming. I want my hardcover hard cased media :)