Homefront‘s release has been mired with negative report after negative report. Reviewers have been giving the game average scores, and the game’s metacritic score currently sits at 71. Our own review of Homefront definitely fell close to that mark, citing moments of brilliance, but not enough substance to live up to the hype generated for the game pre-launch.
THQ remains optimistic about its controversial new shooter, and maybe it has to be after its stock plummeted 21% to $4.69 during the first day of Homefront‘s release. Things haven’t improved much since, with THQ’s stock closing at $4.54 — down another 15 cents overall — since Tuesday’s close.
THQ’s most recent bout of optimism came regarding the price drop yesterday. Many perceived that drop as a sign that the title was going to perform weakly in the long haul, with retailers trying to dump copies of the game while they still could. THQ wanted to make it clear that this was not the case, and that the one day sale was not their doing.
“Amazon and Wal-Mart.com have raised the prices back up… it was a one day play to gain market share on the biggest title in the industry right now. THQ did not support this in any way shape or form.”
Biggest title in the industry right now might be perceived as reaching, but if THQ is only looking at this week, then they don’t really need to reach that far. Not at all deterred by the drop in the value of its stock, THQ was proud to announce that the total launch day sales of Homefront in North America totalled 375,000 units. With this strong start, and the additional sales caused by the temporary price drop, maybe word of mouth will be enough to carry the title on to its minimum target of 2 million copies sold.
THQ isn’t alone in its faith that it will be able to reach its target. Colin Sebastian, an analyst for Lazard Capital Markets, expressed a great deal of support for THQ.
“We remain comfortable with our F4Q estimate of 1.5 million units of Homefront, following the company’s announcement that first-day sales at retail hit 375k units in the U.S. We are also encouraged by the initial conversion of pre-orders to sales, despite some disappointing critic reviews.”
“Looking ahead, word of mouth will become more important as gamers explore the online multi-player levels of the title. We note that Homefront also launches internationally this weekend.”
International sales should help propel the game’s sales numbers further, but whether or not foreign gamers are going to be interested in Homefront still remains to be seen. The game’s campaign relies so heavily on feelings of patriotism for one’s country that it’s not a stretch to imagine that international gamers will take little interest in feeling patriotic for a country that is not their own. For this international launch, the multiplayer component will be a much more important factor, and so far that component of the gameplay has been met with the least criticism.
Do you think that Homefront can sustain sales long enough to break even at 2 million copies, or will it flounder and fade into the past like so many other shooters before it?
Homefront was released earlier this week in North America for the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and OnLive, and today in Europe.
Source: Industry Gamers, Metacritic
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i was dissapointed when i heard about the campaign length and when i saw the graphics werent polished as i thought they should have been.
so i almost canceled my order…im glad i didnt
this game is amazing.
yes it has its down fall.. but it was a small budget game done on a wing and a prayer.
now that thq knows its a good game im looking for part 2 to be the new industry standard.
battlefield may be the best looking game but unless its online plays even 50% as good as homefront’s its dead in the water.
The game did not live up to the advertising hype,slow,clunky and awful,trying to emulate COD,BF and MAG which was awful as well.I just hope EA dont sell out to the console masses and BF3 is true to its roots.
ps-anyone want to buy homefront xbox? going cheap
How much? email rpfootballer@msn.com
I agree with the cat above me (skaarofman). This is a fun game for mp. Reviews don’t do it justice. It is s blend of MAG, COD and BFBC. It can’t be perfect at any one area, but it blends nice elements from each and the owns it. It’s a bit buggy, but most games are now. 2011 is the year of perpetual beta testing.
The maps are too big, never ever have i been in a 32 person game yet, biggest was 27 person, but none the less, they failed with this game, you have a game model that is the yardstick by which all fps should be measured by (cod franchise) and they chose to model their game more after battlefield.. the only good thing about this game is no lagging with the dedicated servers, but that really doesnt do a person much good if the game isnt enjoyable… who really wants to run several hundred yards to get into the action, just to get shot and have to do it all over again…i would rather get spawn killed a few times than have to do that…i think its a good starting point, i like the battlepoints idea, but maybe put out some smaller maps along with alot of other adjustments i.e. grenade throwing, flashbang throwing, pistol is way too weak, getting through windows or over obstacles is atrocious… just to name a few… but none the less, this game is something to do when your bored…
Way too short, annoying as all hell voice acting, graphics that looked like they were drawn with colored pencils…huge huge disappointment.
Frontlines ( KAOS’ previous game) was light years ahead as far as look and content ( the terrible voice acting however, was even worse in that game!!)
I will rarely buy a game on release day anymore. The only thing I’ve bought in the past year that I’ve actually felt like I got my dollars worth is Bulletstorm, because it’s fun and entertaining and has a nice, long campaign.
KAOS and THQ — what a letdown…
2 out of 10
wait you think bulletstorm… which is just a rip off of the club is better than homefront..? wow!
i beat that game in 4 hrs… and the multiplayer is repetitive…i dont even know what else to say to this.
I didn’t care for the storyline despite being a big fan of the author. That being said I find the gameplay dynamics and multiplayer experience to be tier 1. This is indeed a refinement of other existing shooters and perhaps reviewers were expecting something completely new. I would give the game an 84/100. I play on 32 person servers that are full all the time. in fact, I often have to wait to get a spot.