THQ putting a stop to Red Faction franchise

In THQ’s latest financial report, the publisher expressed disappointment in the performance of Red Faction: Armageddon, the sequel to 2009’s Red Faction: Guerrilla from developer Volition. They were so disappointed, in fact, that they’ve decided to mostly discontinue the franchise.

Neither of them did particularly poorly, all things considered. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Red Faction: Guerrilla are sitting at a respectable 85% on Metacritic, and while Red Faction: Armageddon is at 71%, that’s not exactly something to scoff at.

The problem, THQ president Brian Ferrell explains, is that the series is “just now” finding it’s niche. Here’s what he had to say:

“Given that [Red Faction], now in two successive versions, has just found a niche, we do not intend to carry forward with that franchise in any meaningful way.”

Personally, I’m quite a bit disappointed by this news. Red Faction: Guerrilla may not have been the best title of the year, but it was a solid, entertaining experience throughout, with a multiplayer mode that shocked us all in how good it turned out to be.

With that being said, I didn’t particularly care for the direction Volition went in with Red Faction: Armageddon. The destruction was still intact alongside some new mechanics and interesting weapons, but part of what made the experience of Guerrilla so fun, at least to me, was the open world setting. Blowing things up in mostly linear caverns is still fun, just.. less so.

Enough about what I think, though. Let us know how you feel in the comments!