THQ Interview on South Park: The Game and Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium

Ripten offers an interview with THQ’s Executive Vice President for Core Games Danny Bilson, discussing the struggling publisher’s plans for Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium and Obsidian’s South Park game. Bilson states South Park: The Game (and Darksiders II) won’t ship until they’re perfect, and talks a bit about the process with Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

MF: When it was announced, it was slated for a 2012 release. Is that still going to happen?

DB: Potentially, but it’s going to be very close. It’s all about. because that game is being written by Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker]. some of the production process ebbs and flows with their schedule. They are in the middle of a season right now, and as soon as they are done, they get back to the game, and their season takes them out for a couple of months at a time. Again, it’s like I said about Darksiders. We can’t afford to ship it until it’s perfect.

Matt and Trey won’t ship until it’s their vision of this ultimate role playing game, where you’re the new kid in town and it’s like being in a South Park episode. Once all the pieces are together, we’ll announce a date and we’ll ship it. I can tell you from progress and process. I’ve got sections of the game that they’ve completed; they are phenomenal. If you like South Park, and I love South Park, it’s South Park! It’s incredible and it’ll absolutely be the funniest game ever made. There’s no two ways about it.

MF: I’m a fan of Obsidian. Chris [Avellone] and Feargus [Urquhart] are fantastic. It seems like a match made in heaven. When you say that there are segments that have been completed. Are you just talking about dialog, or is there actual gameplay.

DB: No! I’m talking about the game! There are sections of the game where all the voices are in and all the writing and rewriting has been done by Matt and Trey. When you get all the pieces together, it’s what everyone wants it to be. Again, this was their vision. this game came to us. Matt and Trey wanted to do a great game. They had even contracted Obsidian themselves before we came in and, I believe, there was work going on for about a year. They were looking for a publisher to get it involved and pick it up and drive it the rest of the way. That’s what we’ve been doing since the end of last summer; somewhere around there.