14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher THQ has announced that it expects to see better-than-expected financial results for the final quarter of the current fiscal year, mainly because it has managed to sell more copies of both Saints Row: The Third and UFC Undisputed 3 than projected.
For the three-month period that ended on March 31 of this year, the company is expected to announce that it has managed to generate sales of 160 – 170 million dollars (between 121 and 128 million Euro), which is better than the initially unveiled 130 – 150 million dollars (99 – 114 million Euro).
THQ says that the main cause for the revised figures is Saints Row: The Third, the open-world action game that has managed to sell more than 4 million copies all over the world.
The game has seen solid digital sales and the downloadable content that THQ released and Volition developed has also been a success.
In addition, THQ cited the performance of UFC Undisputed 3, the mixed martial arts simulation that has performed well because of solid reviews and a Metacritic average of 85.
The good results for the final quarter of the fiscal year will mean that THQ will end the year with more cash in hand than previously reported and that it will post a smaller-than-expected loss.
The publisher is highlighting the good news in order to balance out the dire news that it has made public previously during 2012, including a major restructuring and the fact that it was dropping its licensed game line in order to focus on core games.
118 employees that worked at subsidiaries Vigil Games, who is in charge of the Darksiders franchise, and Relic Entertainment, where the Dawn of War series is created, have been let go and some analysts predicted that THQ would be sold before the end of 2012.