THE BUZZ: Talk has gone around recently about troubles at THQ, and today the publisher announced a change in strategy—one that many hardcore gamers will no doubt be happy to hear.

EGM’s TAKE: The company put out a press announcement today, stating that it would be moving its focus away from “traditional kids’ licensed video games” and more toward “its core video game franchises and digital initiatives for the future”.

So what does this all mean? One of the things we know is that THQ’s efforts in their “uDraw” line of game tablets haven’t paid off as much as the company was expecting, with the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the tablet seeing weak sales after release. At the same time, many of THQ’s more “core” gaming projects have done extremely well as of late—including Saints Row: The Third, which has shipped 3.8 million units so far and is expected to ship between 5 and 6 million copies during its life.

“THQ will be a more streamlined organization focused only on our strongest franchises” said THQ’s president and CEO Brian Farrel. “The success of Saints Row: The Third is an example of what our revised strategy and focus can achieve.”

Here’s where things get even more exciting. As part of this new directional push for THQ, the company’s five internal studios are working on new properties for a number of THQ’s games—including inSANE, Saints Row, and Company of Heroes.

What do you think? Are you glad to see THQ move away from doing all-audience games, and instead focus on the more hardcore titles that fans know and love?