THQ Q3: Saints Row 3 coming "fall," 40K MMO FY2013

THQ has confirmed a fall 2011 release for Saints Row 3 in its Q3 figures call, as well as pegging Darksiders 2, Vigil's 40K MMO Dark Millennium Online and Devil's Third for FY2013.

The company said Volition has set a "new bar" with the next Saints Row game, which will be revealed in the "near future".

THQ CEO Brian Farrell refused to be drawn on details for the title.

"I have been place under a very tight gag order by our Saint's Row team. Hang in there: you're going to love it," he said in response to an analyst question on the project.

Kaos shooter Homefront will now release on March 15 in the US, the company said, a slip of a week. It'll release in March 18 in the UK according to the game's Twitter: THQ said in November last year that the game would hit on, "March 8 2011 for the USA, March 11 for UK/Continental Europe, and March 10 for Australia.”

Despite the small delay, THQ said pre-orders were "ramping," with much of the shooter's pre-launch marketing yet to hit.

The Guilliemero Del Toro-Volition collaboration, Insane, will ship in calendar 2013.

Sense of closure, loss

Company of Heroes Online, as previously rumoured, has been canned. WWE Online has also been shelved. THQ chalked up a $9.9 million non-GAAP charge related to the cancellations, mainly from rolling the games out in Korea.

THQ has now closed its Korean office in the name of "focus".

During the call following the figure's release, the company said clearly that provision has been made to be able to option Dark Millennium Online for Asian markets.

The company confirmed it has "half a dozen" games coming for Kinect and Move.

“Fiscal 2012 will be driven by the strongest core games line-up in our history"

The company recorded a net loss of $14.9 million in the quarter ending December 31, in contrast to a profit of $542,000 in the previous corresponding period. Revenue was reasonably static, at $314.6 million compared with $356.7 million in the prior-year period.

Catalogue sales were up to 18 percent in Q3 over the previous corresponding period.

The firm's uDraw tablet shipped 1.2 million for Wii last year, helping THQ to beat expectations for its third quarter. Farrell described demand for the device as "extraordinary".

uDraw shipped on November 14, 2010, and was bundled with uDraw Studio, an art-based title.

THQ said it shipped 2.7 million units of WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 over the Holiday period.

"We posted a strong holiday quarter led by our new uDraw GameTablet, which shipped 1.2 million units. This owned intellectual property provides THQ with a new growth opportunity focused on innovative and creative game play," said Farrell.

"I have been place under a very tight gag order by our Saint’s Row team."

"Our fiscal fourth quarter continues our robust release schedule of high quality, high profile games including Homefront, WWE All Stars, and de Blob 2."

Farrell added: "THQ is poised for significant net sales and earnings growth in fiscal 2012 as a result of aggressive investment in owned intellectual properties and major franchises, a lean cost structure, and growing digital revenues.

"Fiscal 2012 will be driven by the strongest core games line-up in our history, including: Red Faction Armageddon, Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine, MX vs. ATV Alive and the newest installment of our Saints Row franchise."