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THQ confirms Homefront 2 plans

Looking to learn from original's failings.

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Image credit: Eurogamer

More Homefront is on the way, THQ's core games chief Danny Bilson has confirmed.

Chatting with Eurogamer backstage at E3 last week, Bilson revealed that it had some "interesting" plans for the new FPS franchise.

"Everything we learned from [the original] you'll see executed in other games going forward, and including that franchise going forward. We'll have some really interesting announcements in the future about the future of that brand."

Bilson wouldn't reveal any more details but did suggest that the sequel would address all of the criticisms leveled at the first game.

When asked if he was satisfied with the title, he replied, "No. But I loved the game. It was a tremendous learning experience for us. We learned a lot about managing dedicated servers. We got very ambitious with dedicated servers.

"I put a lot of myself into that effort on that game. I learned a lot. I still think it's creatively a fantastic game, a great place to go. The environmental storytelling is excellent. The marketing was wonderful. That brand resonated with a lot of people emotionally.

"We sold through a million units in a week. That's huge on a brand new IP.

He added that his intent was to release a sequel with great reviews across the board, rather than Homefront's decidedly mixed bag of scores.

"I would like to get to a place where we don't get mixed reviews, we get all great reviews, as certain games get. We had 40 reviews over 80. 40. And some that were just down in the bottom. I don't want to have games that are so controversial on quality. I want to have consistency across everybody's experience with them.

"We need to look at our games in terms of not just what we love about them, but what could somebody not like about them, and work on every little corner of them and shore them up to get to greatness.

"We're growing. We're learning. We're applying learnings. That game taught us tons. It also taught us some really good things. It was an example of the new way we market core in THQ. That was the first large campaign executed under my leadership with great marketers unchained. We succeeded really well."

An improved online experience will also be a focus, following server jitters in the original's first few weeks on sale.

"We also learned a lot about the service side of an online game needing dedicated servers. And learned a tremendous amount, which is all rolled out now in the demo. I hear it's going beautifully, with great connectivity. Everything's smooth.

"The issues we had on Homefront we'll never have again. And yet, I absolutely love that brand and want to continue to make it great."

As announced earlier today, the Homefront franchise's future now lies at THQ's Montreal HQ after the publisher decided to close original developer Kaos Studios.

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