Lower-than-expected sales of mixed martial arts sequel, strength of US dollar push THQ to cut quarterly financial guidance roughly 18 percent.
Last year, THQ's UFC Undisputed 2009 was a first-round knockout, garnering critical acclaim and topping 3.5 million in sales. While this year's installment received comparable reviews, its sales have been disappointing, THQ revealed today.
The publisher today warned investors that its sales for the current fiscal quarter would be roughly 18 percent lower than it had previously expected, due to lower-than-expected sales of UFC and a stronger US dollar. THQ had been expecting revenues for the quarter ending June 30 to fall between $190 million and $200 million but now expects sales to range from $155 million to $165 million. It also expects to post losses of $0.20 to $0.30 per share, where it had previously expected to break even. In a note to investors, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said the reduced guidance suggests that UFC Undisputed 2010 sales will fall about 1 million copies shy of THQ's expectations.
THQ said it has shipped 2.6 million copies of UFC Undisputed 2010 to date, but sell-through to consumers has been below expectations. Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald said the publisher will need to run a lot of promotions and price cuts on the game over the next 3 to 6 months to help retailers move all those copies of the game. As for the reasons behind the disappointing sales, Greenwald noted competition from other new releases (specifically Red Dead Redemption) and suggested that UFC games aren't suited to annualized releases in the same way other sports are.
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
