Bilson talks THQ: "We knew we were in trouble"

Danny Bilson has discussed his short spell at THQ, the collapse of the company and his efforts to help turn the ship around amid stormy waters in a new interview.

Speaking with GI.biz Bilson - who served as executive vice president of core games at THQ for four years - has discussed what went wrong at the company, and how he fought to keep the brand afloat.

Bilson explained, "We were shutting studios the whole time and I was the guy going out there and giving the bad news. It's like the worst thing that... it's the worst. I'll stop right there. Awful".

He added, "Listen, when I left a year ago, we didn't see what eventually happened on the horizon. I'm not kidding, okay: we knew we were in trouble, but we knew we had a good line-up, and I thought we had enough money put away to support that stuff, finish it, and market it properly. We had a plan to live another day.

"And this is honest, honest, honest: I do not know what happened after I left. No idea. I'm not privy to what went on in there and I didn't try to find out. I needed to move forward. I really wasn't engaged at all, and then the news came in December. This was happening to my friends. I felt terrible. I just felt terrible."

Speaking at the GameHorizon conference in Newcastle last week, Bilson made clear that he didn't know the steps that led to THQ's collapse, but that he tried his best to help the brand turn things around. It was a rare insight into what it felt like to be at the publisher during those years.

Now, Bilson is planning to release several transmedia-led titles based around movies. I spoke with him last week to discuss the nature of his projects - which will span sci-fi, horror and fantasy - and how they will capitalise on new trends in transmedia.

Stay tuned for my full interview with Bilson about his new IP on VG247 tomorrow.