Speaking with IndustryGamers, THQ’s “core games” vice president Danny Bilson has suggested that the publisher is soon to announce the acquisition of “some jaw-dropping talent.”
“The marketers are driven by the creatives in our shop. I have a feeling we’re one of the only shops in the entertainment business that’s run that way these days” Bilson said, “We have absolutely hands down the best pitch in the world, the easiest place for artists to come, and you’re going to see a series of announcements of some very serious game talent coming our way.”
Bilson gave an approximate time-frame of the next six months for these announcements and also briefly discussed the one that got away: Jason West and Vince Zampella’s Respawn (who splintered off from Infinity Ward and ultimately signed with EA.)
“Jason [West] and Vince [Zampella] and I had a lot of very serious conversations during that time when they were ‘shopping around'” Bilson said.
Despite the claims of being an ideal creative workplace, THQ insists on the ownership of all intellectual property – and this is likely to have been an impossible hurdle for the Respawn team, who have always insisted on retaining ownership of their own creations.
Nonetheless, says Bilson, “the guys that we’re going to announce, are of that [Respawn] caliber.”
