One property that is looking to, in the future, grab a large piece of Call of Duty’s thunder is Homefront, the alternate reality FPS from THQ. THQ CEO Brian Farrell, when asked point blank if he thinks Homefront could ever attain “Call of Duty status,” said that he thinks it is very possible.
Citing the early sales numbers for the first Call of Duty, Farrell likens Homefront’s early reception to that of Call of Duty 1. The game series started out small, but as Call of Duty continued to grow, and its developer(s) perfected the product, so did the sales numbers.
It’s a process that doesn’t happen over night, it takes time to build a record-breaking franchise. Specifically Farrell says:
Of course, Farrell is overlooking a few of the obvious differences between Homefront and Call of Duty, namely the quality of each product. While Call of Duty was a critically lauded PC shooter experience — one that took a played out genre and reinvigorated it — Homefront essentially took Call of Duty’s concept and tried to recreate it with minute changes.
Homefront, in light of the backlash over the game’s length and multiplayer problems, has a much harder uphill battle if it wishes to achieve Call of Duty levels of success. Thankfully, Farrell doesn’t count out some of THQ’s other popular franchises as popular candidates for the crown.
While Homefront might not ever achieve the same success that Call of Duty, most recently with Black Ops, has, developer Kaos Studios has an opportunity to prove that the concept is viable. With a planned sequel in the works, and a vow to improve, Homefront 2 can correct the mistakes made with the first game and, hopefully, put the series on the path to Call of Duty’s crown.
Do you think Homefront will ever achieve the same level of success that Call of Duty has? What improvements would need to be made to make that possibility a reality?
Source: Industry Gamers
