Tag Archives: thq full-year financials 2009

THQ CEO Brian Farrell said in the firm’s full-year earnings call last night that core games can’t break even in the 700-800,000 unit range any more.

“On the core titles, yeah, 700,000, 800,000 units, those days unfortunately we think are over,” he said in answer to a question about break even levels.

“But within the kids segment, the break evens are very low – I mean, depending on the title, how many SKUs you do, per SKU your break-evens are, depending on the platform, could be somewhere between even 100 and 400,000 units.”

The target sales level was “fairly low in the kids and mass appeal as you might suspect but much higher on the core titles,” the exec added.

Get all the rest of the news from the call here.

THQ boss Brian Farrell said in THQ’s full-year earnings call last night that a “softness” is entering Wii’s market, comments that will no doubt fuel speculation of an upcoming price cut.

“The Wii has been going for an unprecedented amount of time without a price cut,” Farrell said, suggesting that a weakening in the Wii market may be due in part to the economy and in part to the fact that the Wii “already [has] a pretty substantial install base at the current price point.”

Farrell also said in the call that he expects a PS3 price cut later this year.

Thanks, Gama.

Seeking Alpha just posted the full transcript of THQ’s full-year earnings call last night. You could pick through it, or you could just read this.

The choice, liebling, is yours.

What? You weren’t listening to THQ’s full-year earnings call at 11.00pm last night? What the hell is wrong with you, you idiot? Take a long, hard look in the mirror. Now go and wash your tongue.

Here’s what you missed:

• THQ posts $431 million loss for fiscal year
• THQ full-years earnings call – the full transcript
• PS3 price cut expected “later in the year,” says THQ boss
• Multiplayer demo confirmed for Red Faction: Guerrilla
• THQ plans to return to profitability in 2010
• Saints Row and Dawn of War sequels to ship for “many years to come”
• Company of Heroes Online to launch before March 2010
• Saints Row 2 ships more than 2.8 million units
• THQ – 800k units break-even on core games “days are over”
• “Softness” emerging in Wii market, says Farrell

THQ’s Brian Farrell has just described PS3 as a “challenging” format, saying he doesn’t expect the machine’s retail cost to drop at E3 in june.

“We’re not expecting a [PS3] price cut at E3, but we do expect one later in the year,” said the CEO.

“That’s just our guess… [and] not based on any knowledge from Sony.”

Farrell was speaking in THQ’s Q4 and year-end earnings call, which is ongoing.

THQ announced losses of over $430 million for the year ending March today.

Red Faction: Guerrilla is to get a multiplayer demo later this month, THQ CEO Brian Farrell has confirmed.

A single-player demo for the title has already released.

The full game is to release for PC, 360 and PS3 in early June.

Farrell was speaking in THQ’s Q4 and year-end earnings call, which is ongoing.

THQ announced losses of over $430 million for the year ending March today.

THQ CEO Brian Farrell plans to return the company to profitability by 2010, he said today.

Building on family game franchises, along with casual games with both premium and budget price points will save the day, said the exec.

Farrell also expects the online gaming market to help solidify sales, and development costs will be further dropped.

Proven console franchises and licensing deals with Marvel and Disney will help significantly, too.

Farrell was speaking in THQ’s Q4 and year-end earnings call, which is ongoing.

THQ announced losses of over $430 million for the year ending March today.

THQ boss Brian Farrell just said that Saints Row and Dawn of War sequels are to be launched for “many years to come”.

The exec said more than 5 million units of Saints Row have now been sold, as have more than 4 million units of in the Dawn of War series.

Farrell was speaking in THQ’s Q4 and year-end earnings call, which is ongoing.

THQ announced losses of over $430 million for the year ending March today.

Company of Heroes Online is to launch in the 12 months ending March 31, 2010, THQ confirmed today.

The news came as part of the firm’s full-year financials.

The title is a free-to-play, micro-transaction-based affair in which players have persistent characters they carry from battle to battle.

It’ll release first in China, and later hit other Asian countries. There’s no news on it coming west.

Details here.

THQ has posted a $431 million loss for the 12 months ending March this year, down from $35.3 million in fiscal 2008.

Sales were down to $830.0 million from $1,030.5 million in the year previous.

Q4 sales held relatively steady, at $170.3 million, compared with $187.0 million in the corresponding previous period.

Losses for the quarter, however, extended significantly, down to $96.9 million, or $1.44 per share from the $34.5 million in FY ’08.

Press release after the drop.

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