14 DAY TRIAL // Danny Bilson, the ex-core game division boss at the now defunct publisher THQ, says that the uDraw peripheral that the company launched was one of the major factors of its downfall, but a number of underperforming titles also contributed.
He explains to VG247 that, “It wasn’t just that. It was a lot of factors. Certainly uDraw was a big hit that we couldn’t afford to take that loss at that time.”
The former executive has not detailed which were the games that THQ published that failed to generate the expected sales, but he says that the decline was a long process that took years and that the leadership tried everything in order to save the company.
After THQ closed down, a number of other companies picked up titles like South Park: The Stick of Truth and Evolve, which have managed to generate a positive reaction among players.
The uDraw was a tablet that was supposed to deliver unique content for young gamers, allowing the company to enter the hardware market and creating a constant source of long-term revenue.
The device was motion sensitive and included a stylus for interaction purposes, but it failed to attract players and THQ was left with 1.4 million unsold units before it went into bankruptcy.