Lack of Red Faction causes THQ loss

THQ has reports losses in both sales and income for the three months ending June 30th, 2010.

The publisher’s net sales fell by 39 per cent year-on-year from $243.5m to $149.4m. Sales were largely driven by UFC Undisputed 2010, just as they were driven by UFC Undisputed 2009 in the same period last year.

However, THQ observes that Q2 sales were also boosted in 2009 by the release of Red Faction: Guerilla and that no comparable title” was released during the same period this year. The next entry in the series, Red Faction: Armageddon, is due for release in spring 2011 – the last quarter of the publisher’s fiscal year.

The company also reported a net loss of $30.1m, down from a net income of $6.4m for the same period last year.

Looking forward, THQ expects net sales to come in at between $845m and $865m for the current financial year. It also expects net sales to reach between $60m and $70m for the three months ending September 30th, 2010.

THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell is confident that upcoming titles, such as WWE All-Stars, Homefront and Red Faction: Armageddon, will put the publisher in a better position by the next financial year.

During the quarter, we continued to bring superior quality games to market with UFC Undisputed 2010 achieving an 85 Metacritic rating,” he said.

We also delivered our most critically acclaimed E3 showing ever with a strong line-up of games in development, several of which are based on proven long-term franchises. Our goal this fiscal year continues to be to position THQ for growth in fiscal 2012 and beyond.”

The company’s highlights for the quarter included the unveiling of its E3 line-up and title announcements for new hardware, such as The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout for Kinect, UFC Fitness Trainer for Kinect and PlayStation Move, and Saints Row 3 and de Blob 2 for 3DS.

Farrell added: We are excited about the opportunity for industry growth provided by rapidly expanding online markets and new gaming platforms such as Kinect, Move and Nintendo 3DS.

We are developing franchises on these new gaming platforms and we are increasing our investment in online and digital gaming to benefit from these emerging markets.”