THQ had an earnings call today and revealed quite a few interesting tidbits about its upcoming release schedule. The highlights? Sequels for all of their currently-successful franchises. The following franchises will be seeing new iterations in 2011 and 2012:
"Darksiders"
Pretty happy about this. Apparently the game sold 1.2 million copies, which is plenty to justify a follow-up, especially when you consider that it's a new franchise. The first game was definitely solid, and given the fact that it ended on a blatant cliffhanger, it'll be nice to see where Vigil (presumably the developer) takes the franchise next.
"Red Faction"
The last game in the series, "Red Faction Guerrilla," managed to pull the franchise out of the toilet with some awesome destruction physics and some pretty enjoyable open-world gameplay. It'd be nice to see a major change in scenery (a dusty Mars is pretty played out by now), but hopefully the basic gameplay model will stay the same.
"Saint's Row"
The third in the series is on its way, and I'm hoping that a new city is first on the docket. The franchise has always showed promise, even if the presentation and story aspects got the short end of the stick. Co-op was a nice touch, and maybe increasing that to 4 players would help to bring more of an audience. THQ just needs to make sure it doesn't release anywhere near "GTA."
"De Blob"
The least "hardcore" of this new crop, "De Blob" was pretty innovative platformer with some fun multiplayer mechanics. The sequel should continue that trend, and will most likely remain on the Wii. That's fine, the Wii needs more solid 3rd party titles.