THQ bucks trend
THQ reveal they were one of the few games publishers to see profits increase last year
While most of the gaming industry was whining about slow-downs, poor sales, too much product on shelves, the late arrival of the PlayStation 2, transition years, the way the wind was blowing and anything else they could think of, THQ have bucked the recent trend of doom and gloom announcements by revealing that their profits actually rose sharply last year. Profits in the final quarter of last year were up by an impressive 45% on revenues which were 50% higher than for the same period the previous year.
Much of THQ's success can be put down to a spate of WWF games released by them on the PlayStation and N64, with the Rugrats and Scooby Doo children's titles also putting in strong performances in the run-up to Christmas. Amazingly almost a third of the company's revenues last year came from sales of N64 games, showing that the venerable console still isn't dead. "We are extremely proud of our accomplishments in light of a difficult market environment", president Brian Farrell beamed. "Our strategy of harvesting the existing platforms while establishing a leadership position on the new platforms is serving us well."
Profits are expected to be even higher this year, with a total of 25 games due for release this year across the whole range of next generation consoles from GameBoy Advance to Xbox. Key titles include "Summoner" and "Red Faction", both of which are due out on PC and PlayStation 2 this summer, while THQ now have the rights to develop games based on a whole range of strong franchises from Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys to the Evil Dead movies and pro wrestling.