MicroProse's Third-Quarter Setback

After the failed merger attempt with GT Interactive, the financial health of MicroProse seemed pretty dim. With nearly no new releases for the third quarter ending December 31, 1997, MicroProse reported a net loss of US$10.9 million on net revenue of $14.9 million - compared with a net income of $5.7 million and revenue of $35.9 million in the same quarter of the previous year.

The numbers were slightly worse than what MicroProse had projected in December, blaming lower holiday sales and numerous product markdowns.

CEO Steve Race believes that the current loss from the third quarter will carry over into the current quarter, albeit a smaller one. MicroProse already released Worms 2 and Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers earlier this week for this quarter, with Ultimate Race Pro and M1 Tank Platoon II also due for release this quarter. The first quarter of the next fiscal year will see the releases of Falcon 4.0 and Ultimate Civilization II.

"I believe we can improve our performance and return to profitability in fiscal 1999," Race stated. "We've done it in the past. The team is committed to it. We have the product lineup to do it again."