Homefront 2: Why Crytek Took Over From THQ
THQ’s first-person shooter Homefront opened to lukewarm critical reception. While that alone might make other developers think twice about developing a sequel, the uninspiring reviews haven’t keep Crytek back from coming up with a follow up. According to Crytek’s founder Avni Yerli and general manager of games Nick Button-Brown, they decided to pull the trigger on building a follow up because of the huge exposure and ‘mind share’ of this game.
In a Game Developers Conference interview, Yerli and Button-Brown said that even though the first Homefront got quite a bit of low reviews, the game has achieved quite a bit of brand recognition due to great positioning and marketing. He said that attaching Crytek’s quality to the sequel will allow it to build on its existing brand recall to make a “big splash” when it is released.
And the status of the pfoject? It is being worked on at Crytek Nottingham and Yerli said the early builds of the game were “looking good”. According to Nick Button-Brown, the virtual world for the second game is “really cool”. While we share the excitement, Crytek’s motivation does shed a very illuminating light on the business realities of video game development.
Building on ‘mind share’ can be like using an installed brand as a spring board to commercial success. Much better than starting to build a brand from zero, right?
- Share article with other networks
