THQ's "heavy lifting is done"
CEO Brian Farrell believes things are starting to come together for THQ
Despite its recent troubles, THQ CEO Brian Farrell believes that his company is ready to begin its rise from the ashes. The publisher is more focused, new president Jason Rubin is on deck, and the board of directors has approved the company's reverse stock split to keep it alive on the Nasdaq. Farrell told Gamasutra that everything is "starting to come together."
"We want to show the shareholders that the heavy lifting is done," said Farrell. "The last six months have been an exercise in great pain and suffering. We feel like we're getting there. We've taken a lot of negative things in the press - and frankly a lot of that was deserved. This company has changed. We have strong, new leadership. Look at our fourth quarter earnings. … It's starting to come together."
Despite its new stated focus on the core market, THQ is not putting all of its eggs in the AAA basket.
"I think there's a real opportunity in the changing business models we see happening in the marketplace for a smaller and more agile company like us to position ourselves quite differently," said Farrell. "We think there's a real opportunity - particularly in the digital space on the core gamer side [and] especially on emerging platforms like the PC and some of the things we see coming down the road, where there's an opportunity for core games that are not just [made with] the highest budgets, but [offer] alternate pricing and business models. There's a place to attract the core gamer there."
While many blame Farrell for the position THQ is in now, he believes it's best if he steers the company out of the hole it currently is in.
"There is no question who is responsible for where THQ is right now. That's with me," he says. "That said I feel equally responsible for getting this company out of it. And I'm committed to do it until I'm relieved of my duties. That's the way I'm built and I'm going to keep pushing forward to get this company to where it needs to be. That's the mission and I think the actions speak for themselves."