THQ promises it has "adequate resources" to deliver busy 2014 slate

By Fred Dutton Published 2 February, 2012

Dark Millenium Online alive, six unannounced core titles coming.

UPDATE: THQ boss Brian Farrell has offered further detail on the Dark Millenium situation during an investor call. While the game is still on its release slate, the publisher is currently looking for a "partner" to help complete the title.

ORIGINAL STORY: A bullish THQ has detailed a busy release slate for fiscal year 2014, following weeks of speculation over its faltering financial health.

Reports last month suggested that it was planning to cancel development on all projects scheduled for 2014 or beyond in preparation for a buy-out.

However, its latest quarterly financial report, released earlier today, insisted otherwise.

Contrary to recent speculation, Dark Millenium Online is still scheduled to launch in "fiscal 2014 and beyond", along with Guillermo del Toro's survival horror Insane, Homefront 2, an unnamed shooter from original Left 4 Dead studio Turtle Rock, a new game from Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Désilets and "four unannounced core titles".

It also promised another two unannounced core titles for fiscal 2013.

As expected, its figures for the last quarter were none too rosy, with the publisher reporting a loss of $55.9million, compared to a loss of $14.9 over the same period last year.

The two bright spots were Saints Row: The Third and WWE 12. The former has shipped 3.8 million to date while the latter has managed 2 million.

"Sales of the uDraw GameTablet and related software, and other titles in the kids, family and casual category were far weaker than anticipated, substantially reducing our financial results for the quarter," said CEO Brian Farrell.

"We have since concluded an extensive review of our operations to realign our business, focusing on our key franchises with the most potential.

"We are implementing a plan to bring costs in line with our lower anticipated level of revenue. With our focused product plan, leaner cost structure, cash balance, and existing credit facility, we believe the company has adequate resources to execute on our plan and deliver on our strong multi-year pipeline of games."

As reported yesterday, it's made 240 staff redundant in a restructuring drive and plans to focus on core IP rather than licensed kids titles.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (13) Latest comment 4 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Gearskin #1 4 months ago

    And this is why we don't post "news" articles based on tweets!

  • gjgjg #2 4 months ago

    coh2 pls

  • Dafub #3 4 months ago

    @gjgjg oh god yes and home world 3 as well

  • 32768Colours #4 4 months ago

    Finally the penny's dropped!

    Focusing heavily on making games for a demographic who only ever buy games at Christmas (and maybe birthdays) was never going to be sustainable in the long term.

    Let's hope THQ pull out all the stops and make some cracking games.

  • FatalHybrid #5 4 months ago

    So many new IP's.. EA and Activision seriously need to take note. If the studio with no money is still taking risks and spending money on new IP then what excuse do the rest have? Normally when a publisher announces stuff like this it's typically full of nothing but sequels.. THQ on the other hand seem to find that boring as even Homefront 2 which is the only "sequel" in this article, isn't really a sequel as it's a reworking of the IP by hopefully a better studio (Crytek) for the job.

  • Nismo400R84 #6 4 months ago

    as long as they do dawn of war 3 and homeworld 3 i will be very happy

  • TrevHead #7 4 months ago

    I hope they pull themselves out of the shit as they make some really great PC games.

    Now if they would give us Homeworld 3, imo it would be easy money considering space games dont have many 3d models in them compared to a traditional game.
    Just make some cool looking spaceships add a nebula in the background and its done

  • Lord_Gremlin #8 4 months ago

    I really want another Warhammer game (not MMO) like Space Marine. Maybe about chaos, or tyranids.
    Sure hope they will make one.

  • rudedudejude #9 4 months ago

    Don't forget all the SR DLC they are working on to be released this year too!

  • erp #10 4 months ago

    How disheartening that when a publisher announces a line-up of interesting, new and risky IP, there are so many people on here instead clamouring for sequels to their older IP...

    I'm beginning to think that gamers are just as to blame as anyone else in the industry for its increasing conservatism and risk aversion. Perhaps we're only getting the industry that we actually deserve, after all.

  • erp #11 4 months ago

    @32768Colours I agree wholeheartedly. If only they'd listened to everyone who was saying the casual console market was just an unsustainable fad.

    Like Nintendo, it looks like THQ are also finally coming round to the fact that abandoning your old, loyal customer base in search of a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow was perhaps not the wisest thing to do.

    It's about time these companies began to pay some respect to the customers who made them into what they are today in the first place.

  • gruntboy #12 4 months ago

    Let's face it, they were never going to be anything other than bullish. It would be suicide to admit "yeah, we're going to the wall!" to their shareholders. I hope they survive, but THQ have been "re-aligning their strategy" for about 6 years now. Can't be too many bites of the cherry left.

  • Mr_Wizard #13 4 months ago

    "Millenium" :-(