THQ released its third fiscal quarter financial results today, which showed a 33% increase to $475.7 million from the $357.8 million earned a year ago. Net income for the third quarter came to $62.1 million, a jump from $46.9 million during the same period the previous year. Brian Farrell, President and CEO of THQ, attributed the success to the strong sales of both existing and new IPs, and hinted at possible sequels. "Our success was driven by our Disney/Pixar, WWE, and Nickelodeon franchises, as well as outstanding results for our two newest owned intellectual properties, Saints Row and Company of Heroes. We now own six well-established franchises, each with one million plus unit sales that we plan to sequel and extend well into the future."
Cars, the racing/adventure game based on the 2006 Pixar/Disney film, achieved the #1 movie title and #2 overall console title in the U.S. for 2006, having sold over 7 million units. Wrestling game WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw 2007 sold over 4 million units and action game Saints Row sold over 1.3 million units. Overall, THQ was the #1 independent publisher on the Nintendo DS during 2006 and the overall #3 independent publisher in the U.S., behind EA and Activision.
In a follow-up conference call, THQ revealed new and future titles that in the works. First, THQ plans to release new games in its MX and Juiced racing series, and release the first title in the Stuntman action/driving series during the 2008 fiscal year–which runs from April 2007 to March 2008. These games will include microtransactions and in-game ads. A second game based on Cars will be released in the fall, along with the next Smackdown! vs. Raw wrestling game–planned platforms for the latter include PS3, Wii, DS, 360, and PS2. Lastly, THQ is planning to release 11 Wii games during its 2008 fiscal year, although titles or other details were not released.
THQ is well known for keeping its independence from developmental studios. This year, Relic Entertainment scored big, with hits like Company of Heroes and continued success of the Warhammer series. Rainbow Studios achieved success with Cars, Blitz Games’ with its Burger King-themed games–which sold over 3 million copies–and Volition, Inc. did well with Saints Row. Newer companies, including Kaos Studios and Vigil Games, are set to release new games soon–Kaos’ FPS, Frontlines: Fuel of War, should arrive later this year.
