THQ: Saints Row Breaks XBL Download Record

Officials from the THQ have revealed that downloads of the Xbox 360 demo of Saints Row from Xbox Live Marketplace have reached a record 350,000 during the first week online, the most ever over such a time period. The demo was also the seventh most played game online according to recent data from Microsoft, and is the part of a multi-million dollar marketing campaign unveiled by THQ. Starting with the demo and a pre-order DVD offer, the worldwide campaign is set to continue with TV, cinema, print and online advertising as well as being featured during the season of The Ultimate Fighter on the Spike TV channel in the U.S. "We've put significant resources behind the Saints Row marketing campaign, generating tremendous buzz with creative grass roots efforts and the strategic timing of pre-release content," said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing. "Our multi-million dollar advertising campaign will continue to fuel anticipation in the weeks leading up to launch and we believe extensive plans for post-launch downloadable content will further establish it as a must-have title this holiday season." The game is due for released on August 29th in North America and September 1st in Europe and alongside Capcom’s Dead Rising is considered the first major release after an unusually slow summer for the industry, in part due to the migration towards next generation console formats.