THQ makes USD 430 million loss

By Ellie Gibson Published 7 May, 2009

Still, 5 million Saints Row games sold.

THQ has announced its year-end financial results, revealing a net loss of USD 431 million.

The company reported net sales of USD 830 million, down from USD 1.3 billion a year ago.

In the last quarter alone the company racked up sales of USD 170 million, compared to USD 187 million the previous year. WWE Legends of Wrestlemania and Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II proved most popular.

In his statement bossman Brian Farrell used the word "challenging" a lot, but promised things are on the up: "We have taken decisive actions to achieve our cost saving objectives, eliminating USD 220 million in cash expenditures while at the same time implementing a focused product strategy. We are investing in the brands and products with the highest potential to drive THQ’s long-term profitable growth."

THQ plans to develop "a select number" of quality IPs "targeted at the core gamer", according to a press release. That'll include Saints Row 2, Red Faction: Guerrilla and Darksiders. The company wants to keep doing WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship games, and improve the profitability of its kids' games. Then there's the focus on "emerging online markets" of course.

It's no surprise they're up for more Saints Row - 2.8 million of the second instalment in the series have now been shipped, according to THQ. The total number of Saints Row games sold is 5 million.

The publisher also pointed out that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II was the best-selling PC game in the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia last year. More than 4 million Dawn of War titles have been shifted.

And finally, good news for fans of Red Faction: Guerrilla. According to Farrell (as reported by VG247), a multiplayer demo is out later this month. The full game will be released for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in June.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (16) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • Goffee #1 3 years ago

    SirAlan would not be impressed

  • EmiliasHorse #2 3 years ago

    Indeed he would not.

  • TheNinkyNonk #3 3 years ago

    Well, to be fair, they do make pretty trashy titles.

    What goes around...

  • metalangel #4 3 years ago

    Still, heartening that good old fashioned mayhem is still popular (in the form of Saints Row) in games, and it's not all dog grooming and fake guitars.

  • penhalion #5 3 years ago

    So let's get this straight. They sold a shed load of Saints Row 2 and Dawn of war (I have both of these and they are quality titles in the gameplay stakes). So where the heck did this loss come from?

  • schnide #6 3 years ago

    I think people are being a bit harsh on THQ. It used to be that they churned out shit and nothing but, but they've been trying really hard the last couple of years. Funnily enough, EA have been doing the same, and both companies posted a loss. It really does seem to be that classic case of art vs commerce.

  • systems #7 3 years ago

    @TheNinkyNonk - trashy titles?

    Titan Quest + Immortal Throne
    STALKER
    Dawn of War + Winter Assault + Dark Crusade + Soulstorm
    Dawn of War II
    Company of Heroes
    Frontlines
    Drakensang
    Saints Row 1 + 2
    Supreme Commander
    Age of Empires DS

    But yes, they did publish Big Mother Truckers...

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #8 3 years ago

    @systems

    You son of a bitch i worked hard on BMT

  • metalangel #9 3 years ago

    Yeah, THQ really transformed themselves. Back in the 16bit days I think every kid had at least one experience of a really cool looking THQ game that turned out to be utter shit.

  • Spekingur #10 3 years ago

    But these are just numbers of profits, right? The profits from 2008 are less than profits from 2007, according to the article, with no mention of expenditure. How can that count as a loss?

  • systems #11 3 years ago

    @GamesProgrammer - BMT was certainly an achievement!

    They also publish all the Bratz games and all that trash, but they're really picking up some cracking titles these days. Other than being repetative, DoW II was polished to a shine. TQ is the best Diablo game since Diablo 2. Saints Row 2 was fun all the way.

  • Anthony_UK #12 3 years ago

    How can a companys like THQ & EA be losing so much money? I don't understand it to be honest, Games are selling more and more each year, and EA especially usually have half of the top 10 covered at any one point of the year?

  • makeamazing #13 3 years ago

    They must be spending it all on parties or something. I dont understand how they can lose so much... perhaps there are many games we dont hear about that fail bigtime?

  • kestral #14 3 years ago

    Piracy 1 - Future of Gaming 0
    Edited by kestral at 07/05/09 @ 13:48

  • Ryze #15 3 years ago

    Oh, shame. I used to steer clear of their shite since waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back around 1993 onwards when they'd release utter fucking SHITE SNES conversions.

    They're like Probe software on the MegaDrive, but worse. They'd take an excellent or very playable game - then totally fuck it up on route to the console.

    I'm just so gutted for them.

    Thank goodness for Sculptured Software et al back in the 90s, getting (Ultimate +) MK3 on the MD and MK on the SNES. If Probe or THQ got hold of them, then they'd have been an utter mess.

    I hope they survive, though, rather than infecting other dev studios with their remains if they fold.

    Cruel, but true. Sorry!

  • Ryze #16 3 years ago

    On a positive and more constructive note - they REALLY need to rename and rebrand themselves.

    I'm talking the USA and Barack Obama vs. George Bush proportions here.

    /chuckle

    @AnthonyUK

    They're just spending too much. It's hard not to these days. I'm doing the same right now - it's very easy to misunderstand how much the money you make back is going to be worth by the time you get it, and pay for the money you overspent a couple of years ago.
    Edited by Ryze at 07/05/09 @ 20:10