THQ believes there's a "pent up" demand for open-world games like Saints Row

THQ boss Brian Farrell believes there is a "pent up" demand for an open-world game such as Saints Row: The Third, especially with a new Grand Theft Auto title missing from the marketplace at the moment.

Speaking with Industry Gamers, Farrell said THQ to do well with Saints Row despite the heavy fall line-up this year.

"Over the last several years the [GTA and Saints Row] franchises have gone in totally different directions,' he said. "I think to real gamers who love the Open World games, they buy both. I respect what Rockstar does with GTA, I love the last game, but compare that to Saints Row and the over the top, in your face, wacky humor, lots of stuff going on, irreverence, tongue in cheek.

"It’s really just positioned very differently, and so we think the opportunity is when you look at the competitive set this fall... Yeah there’s a couple of big shooters but after that, given the pent up demand we think there is for Saints Row, and that type of game, we think it’s an awesome opportunity.

"Anybody that loves a great Open World action game is going to love Saints Row: The Third. No question about that. But, again, I think there’s room in our industry now. We’ve grown up so much. I’m just not sure it’s an either or equation. I think you’re going to find both games in a lot of gamer’s portfolios."

Saints Row games have sold over 5.4 million copies worldwide so far, and Saints Row 2 sold one million units more than the original.