Major THQ franchises KIA

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted Jan 23, 2008 3:29 pm PT

Juiced and Stuntman crash and burn as company decides not to pursue the brands; Frontlines PS3, next Destroy All Humans for PS2, and Concrete Games studio also terminated.

Driving games can be a lucrative market for those who hit it big, but THQ appears to have picked up a couple of lemons when it purchased the Juiced and Stuntman franchises from Acclaim and Atari, respectively. The latest installments in those two series underperformed at retail, which may have led the publisher to tell investors today that it had decided "not to pursue" the franchises in an update to its fiscal-year earnings expectations.

Those weren't the only THQ-owned brands to suffer setbacks today. The publisher also revealed the cancellations of the PlayStation 3 version of Frontlines: Fuel of War and the PlayStation 2 version of Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed. (THQ is still expected to release Frontlines on the Xbox 360 and PC, and Big Willy Unleashed is still coming to the Wii and the PlayStation Portable.)

Between those cancellations and also some costs tied to a pair of as-yet unannounced games set for release in THQ's fiscal 2010, the publisher expects to take a $27 million hit to its bottom line. The company further announced the closure of its Concrete Games studio, which had been working on one of those unannounced games. Some employees from the studio will be offered positions elsewhere within THQ, according to the publisher.

"In October, we announced certain product-quality initiatives, including personnel and structural changes in product development and a more rigorous internal and external product evaluation and feedback process," THQ CEO and president Brian Farrell said in a statement. "Consistent with these initiatives, we have taken actions to strengthen our pipeline and position ourselves to compete aggressively with compelling, high-quality games."

THQ also downgraded its revenue expectations for the current quarter, which ends March 31. Whereas the publisher had previously expected net sales of about $240 million, it now expects to ring up roughly $200 million. Part of that is a result of the cancellation of Big Willy Unleashed for the PS2, which had been set to ship in March, as well as lowered sales expectations for previously released titles. THQ also plans to defer $10 million in revenues "due to the significant online-play component" of the PC edition of Frontlines: Fuel of War. To top it off, THQ will also report an extra $20 million in expenses due to underperforming sales from Stuntman: Ignition, Ratatouille, and Conan.

THQ's financial update wasn't all bad news. WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2008 and MX vs. ATV Untamed have outperformed the publisher's expectations, leading it to bump up its expected revenues for the quarter ended December 31 from $490 million to $509 million.

The publisher also revealed the appointment of two new executives who will assist in its attempts to build new intellectual properties and execute on product-quality initiatives. Danny Bilson will be the publisher's new vice president of creative development for worldwide studios, and Roy Tessler is the new vice president of production for worldwide studios. Bilson previously served as vice president of intellectual-property development and creative director for Electronic Arts, where he worked on such brands as The Sims and Medal of Honor. Tessler is a promotion from within; he cofounded THQ's Studio Australia five years ago and also oversaw direction of MX vs. ATV untamed as general manager of Rainbow Studios.

221 Comments

  • frazzle00

    Posted Nov 3, 2008 6:26 pm PT

    I liked Juice 2 .

  • SethandJeremy

    Posted May 8, 2008 6:09 am PT

    Why did they have to cancel frontlines for the ps3. I really wanted to get it on the ps3 but now I'll probably buy it for the pc.

  • Am3bix

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 12:11 am PT

    why the hell would ANYONE buy a system just for big willy unleashed is beyond me...

  • fusion0

    Posted Apr 8, 2008 7:42 pm PT

    In response to bombfanatic's comment the reason THQ probably didn't want to develop a PS3 version of Frontlines simply because it takes too long. A lot of companies are still having trouble with developing PS3 games in a timely manner. 360 games are just easier and faster to make. For now at least. THQ probably figured it would be easier to just finish and release the 360 versions and save the man hours and money it would take porting games to the PS3. That will change eventually but for now many games are taking longer to be released simply because of the PS3 versions take longer and companies force everyone to wait so they can release the 360 and PS3 versions simoultaneously.

  • bombfanatic

    Posted Mar 4, 2008 12:06 pm PT

    BS frontlines on PS3 doesn't need to be canceled. if they are making it for 360 and PC why are they canceling PS3 version. It's called Microsoft buying out the franchise. I get pretty annoyed when they do that. THQ makes mostly terrible games except for destroy all humans. not surprised they coward out of making the PS3 version of frontlines

    SCREW THQ.

  • Zoomer30

    Posted Feb 25, 2008 2:41 pm PT

    I could see Stuntman not doing well from a mile away. I played the demo for about 5 mins and was ready to chuck my controller in disgust. Its like if they wanted to make a game that was like the movie Groundhog Day...you get to do the same thing over...andover....and over...

  • go-cizmek

    Posted Feb 22, 2008 11:24 pm PT

    No Big Willy Unleashed for PS2?!

  • BobBurnquist

    Posted Feb 16, 2008 11:09 am PT

    what the hell i was looking forward to Big willy unleashed

  • kaziechameleon

    Posted Feb 6, 2008 6:38 am PT

    thq is one of, no the best pc publisher, they bring out all the rts games we love, and a fist full of great shooters. thq publishes reliq's games.

  • dreaded_sledge

    Posted Jan 29, 2008 11:58 pm PT

    It's about time these lame franchises were dropped. What they need to do is get to work on Red Faction 3.

  • joe_998

    Posted Jan 29, 2008 2:39 pm PT

    Yeah Stuntman that could of been better if it weren't JUST stunts...

  • joe_998

    Posted Jan 29, 2008 2:36 pm PT

    Yeah thanks alot ThQ now the people have to play BWU only on the wii and psp. You just lost a bigger profit then what you could of lost if you only cancelled for the psp. Also I'm annoyed the psp bwu has less missions! Because of the disc size! So again again thanks Thq...........Now I have to buy a 200 dollar game system vs a $90 ps2....

  • Sammojo

    Posted Jan 28, 2008 2:32 am PT

    THQ are forgiven, but only because they published Dawn of War.

  • mrsnowy

    Posted Jan 27, 2008 2:06 pm PT

    so frontlines ps3 and destroy all humans ps2 are both canceled!!!!
    THAT SUCKS!!!
    I was waiting 4 those games!
    Screw THQ

  • TehUndeadHorror

    Posted Jan 26, 2008 7:33 pm PT

    @mload
    Robutussen?

  • mload

    Posted Jan 25, 2008 8:13 pm PT

    WOW A BUNCH OF GAMES I NEVER CARED ABOUT GOT CANCELLED FOR TWO SYSTEMS I OWN!!! ....Oh, wait... I don't care. *Cough *Metal Gear 4 *cough *Killzone 2 *cough *LittleBigPlanet *Cough *Home *cough *PS Eye *cough *Blu ray *cough *Gran Turismo *cough *Final Fantasy IIIX *cough *Resistance 2 *cough *God of War III *cough *Heavenly Sword 2 *cough *The Agency *cough *Borderlands *COUGH *COUGH *COUGH!!! Sorry about that I think I'm sick with GREATNESS!!! Okay, people don't get me wrong THQ taking a hit sux, but it's not the end of the world. 360 has good games. WII has good games. PS3 is just where it's at for me. If I wanted a system with the shinniest graphics and blue blood that comes out of killing cute little aliens I would have bought a 360. If I wanted a system that had the largest collection of mini-games I would have bought a WII. I'll admit if I had the money I would have all three. I said it before and I'll say it again. PS3 is where it's at for me. AMEN!

  • bawathegamer

    Posted Jan 25, 2008 6:44 am PT

    noooooo. i wanted the new destroy all humans game on ps2.wth man!

  • Azhar85

    Posted Jan 25, 2008 3:59 am PT

    nahh..i don't care about games cancelled or not..i even don't care if MS games go multipaltform with sony and nintendo...i just want to play all types of games with all types of gamers in this world...

  • Azhar85

    Posted Jan 25, 2008 3:58 am PT

    nahh..i don't care about games cancelled or not..i even don't care if MS games go multipaltform with sony and nintendo...i just want to play all types of games with all types of gamers in this world...

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