THQ’s next destruction-based action game, Red Faction: Armageddon, is still nine months away from launching, and the company’s Danny Bilson is already talking about a prequel title that will release months ahead of Armageddon on Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network. Cheeky!

Speaking to CVG, Bilson spoke about THQ’s strategy of supporting its big brand titles with smaller game releases and other media, such as TV shows and comic books.

Specifically related to Red Faction: Armageddon, Bilson said:

“One of the other strategies we have is Xbox Live and PSN games on our big brands. They’re revenue generators and marketing tools.

“There’s going to be a Red Faction Arcade game that ships about three or four months before Armageddon,” Bilson continued. “What’s interesting is that we will sell it to the fans, it will have content you can download that is TV show-related, it will build up to the new game and also we can use it to drive pre-orders, too; we can give codes and aspects of it, we can give the whole thing away.”

These “multi-faceted mini-games” will form part of THQ’s support strategy for its brands in the future - and Red Faction is just the start, with up to six downloadable titles planned for release in the coming months to support other THQ brands.

A “trans-media” push is also planned for not only Red Faction, but the company’s other big franchise, Saint’s Row, which Bilson says will enjoy the biggest cross-promotional campaign any company has ever attempted:

“You’ll see it on Red Faction, you’ll see it on Saint’s Row and a couple of others,” said Bilson. “Not only that, we have a comic book coming on it as well. And in December we’ll announce the Saint’s Row situation, which is the biggest trans-media play anyone has ever done.”

So what could that include? A Saint’s Row game, combined with a movie, TV show, comic book, and a downloadable game? Don’t forget the lunch boxes, clothing range, stationary set and bedding!

In any event, Red Faction: Armageddon, the full game scheduled for release in March 2011 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, is looking pretty exciting, so go check out El33tonline’s previous coverage to see why THQ is so hopped up about supporting it with extra content.

Source: CVG