THQ Going Under?

[colbydonnelly]

In January of 2012, THQ received a delisting notice from NASDAQ for trading below the minimum threshold of $1.00 for 30 days. In order to recover, the publisher’s stock must trade above $.99 for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days before July 23, 2012

www.ripten.com/2012/04/10/thq-talks-layoffs-says-they-cant-afford-to-ship-darksiders-ii-and-south-park-until-theyre-perfect/

It's THQ. The reason they're on "life support" as many have said across the interwebs is that they made a couple of dumb business decisions to cash in on a trend and it failed. That trend was casual gaming.

www.cinemablend.com/games/GamaSutra-Believes-There-Hope-THQ-Staying-Alive-41281.html

I for one will be happy if they go belly up if they drop another hot shit mess of a game when WWE 13" comes around.

Think it's LONG overdue that someone else should come in and take the license for this series.

[evil]

Well if EA gets it. I don't wanna hear about it from the THQ haters when they start bitching/complaining about EA screwing up there new WWE games & wish THQ had the license back.

[colbydonnelly]

LMFAO!.. Big touche', you know the bitching will never end that's a given.. I hope EA does pick this franchise up, they have done pretty damn well with other sports genres NHL/Madden etc.

[Chris Lionheart]

I don't really want a new game engine per sai, which is what we'd likely get if someone new picked up the license. I like the gameplay engine for the most part. There are some things from older games I wish would come back, like svr2011's weapons physics, or SD1-HCTP's 'select button switches control to your tag partner'. I just wish THQ wasn't so ASS backwards with the series. Can anyone even fathom the game we would have had if svr2005 would have cannibalized WWE Day Of Reckoning's features like the Paint Tool Logo Creator, and interpretable moves? Or if svr2006 had DOR2's dynamic weapon-combining thing *place trashcan on opponent's head - then whack fuck out of it with a sledgehammer)? Money In The Freaking Bank; and at this stay we're talking the better part of 10 years ago.

[ten]

That sucks. THQ has done a fair enough job with the WWE games. Sure they had its faults, but honestly, its not that bad.

[Chris Lionheart]

Year-End Cash Balance of $76 Million Significantly Exceeds Prior Guidance

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Apr 18, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) --THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today provided preliminary, unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012.

For the fourth quarter, THQ expects to report non-GAAP net sales of $160 million to $170 million, which is above the company's previous outlook of non-GAAP net sales in the range of $130 million to $150 million. Revised net sales expectations reflect:

1. continued strong net sales of the critically-acclaimed Saints Row(R): The Third(TM), which to date has shipped in more than four million units;
2. higher-than-expected digital sales, largely driven by the robust digital content of Saints Row: The Third; and
3. slightly higher-than-expected net sales of UFC(R) Undisputed(R) 3, which was released mid-February 2012 to highly-favorable critical reviews, achieving an average Metacritic score of 85.


The company currently expects a fiscal fourth quarter non-GAAP net loss per share in the range of $0.10 to $0.20, compared to its previous expectation of a net loss per share in the range of $0.35 to $0.50.

THQ expects to report cash and cash equivalents of approximately $76 million at March 31, 2012, three times higher than the previous expectation for its year-end cash balance, due to better-than-expected operating results in the fourth quarter, as well as earlier-than-anticipated cash receipts. Additionally, the company ended the quarter with no outstanding borrowings on its $50 million credit facility, and did not borrow against the facility during the quarter. The company expects to utilize a substantial portion of its cash and cash equivalents as well as its credit facility as it launches its slate for the 2013 fiscal year, beginning with Darksiders(R) II.

THQ's GAAP results for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012 are expected to include non-cash software development charges of approximately $30 million to $50 million resulting from decisions made related to the company's previously-announced product strategy.

THQ will report full GAAP and non-GAAP fiscal 2012 fourth quarter and full-year results, along with a reconciliation of those results, and provide its outlook for fiscal 2013 on Tuesday, May 15, 2012. Conference call details will be provided closer to the date.

So it seems Saint's Row: The Third saves their ass, for now.