Quadrangulum
Banned
The cost of operating THQ is staggering.
So the burn rate in full was they were projecting $850 million at some point (for next year it sounded?) but now they're half the company (but had a higher burn rate this year of around $900 million), and not all their expenses come off right away.
Even if we assume they've cut their costs in half (very unlikely), we're looking at $450,000,000 in burn rate and at $35 per copy sold profit (assuming almost all full price and some DLC help for what isn't) we're still assuming 13 million.
So yes, they'd need to average almost 2 million copies sold at full price even in the rosiest of situations.
The company currently expects these actions will result in a reduction in its annualized run rate of selling, general and administrative expenses of approximately $60 million, and a reduction of its annualized product development expenditures of approximately $100 million, primarily due to its exit from the kids' licensed console games category.
Looks like expenses are cut by 160 million
Listening to the conference call. This is a new thing for me but am I wrong in assuming that everyone from THQ sounds completely unconfident in everything that they're saying? He certainly doesn't make you want to invest in their 50 cent stock.
Seems like they'll have to lay off staff the day the games go gold unless they scrounge up some cash. Sad day for THQ.So the burn rate in full was they were projecting $850 million at some point (for next year it sounded?) but now they're half the company (but had a higher burn rate this year of around $900 million), and not all their expenses come off right away.
Even if we assume they've cut their costs in half (very unlikely), we're looking at $450,000,000 in burn rate and at $35 per copy sold profit (assuming almost all full price and some DLC help for what isn't) we're still assuming 13 million.
So yes, they'd need to average almost 2 million copies sold at full price even in the rosiest of situations.
Fuck no!
Also need to factor in catalog sales, SR3 will probably do another 1-2 million this year based on their projections. WWE games also will sell throughout the year.
UFC in a couple weeks is going to be something to keep an eye on. The UFC brand is bigger than ever with the Fox deal, so maybe all that extra exposure can give the game a huge boost. They've had ads on the mat for all the shows over the last couple of months.
Poor sales for that game would be the final nail in the coffin.
This was essentially what EA's call was like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGXzlRoNtHU
Year late, not have half the games that were on the Wii, and not have any new games for it either.
I don't really get why they bothered expanding uDraw onto PS3/360, anyone with half a brain could have told them that a game like that would fail on both platforms.
It's like the reverse of how publishers normally treat Wii ports. The Wii one was first, better, had more content...
THQ am Bizarro.
They did the EXACT SAME THING with deBlob. Take moderate Wii success, port sequel up to PS3 and 360. Result?
RIP Blue Tongue.
Is what type of license agreement they have with Zuffa available? I find it impossible to believe that they aren't getting a nice cut per unit as opposed to a flat payout from THQ.
So the burn rate in full was they were projecting $850 million at some point (for next year it sounded?) but now they're half the company (but had a higher burn rate this year of around $900 million), and not all their expenses come off right away.
Even if we assume they've cut their costs in half (very unlikely), we're looking at $450,000,000 in burn rate and at $35 per copy sold profit (assuming almost all full price and some DLC help for what isn't) we're still assuming 13 million.
So yes, they'd need to average almost 2 million copies sold at full price even in the rosiest of situations.
Hopefully they will be around long enough for us to get Saints row 4.
I'd be leery of expecting another 2M from SR3. It only added 200k in all of January, and that was with nothing else being released this month by anybody. Once the major titles start rolling in, SR3 will be forgotten. It may do okay for itself at a budget price, but it's not selling another 2M at full price.Also need to factor in catalog sales, SR3 will probably do another 1-2 million this year based on their projections. WWE games also will sell throughout the year.
UFC will definitely be interesting to watch.bigtroyjon said:UFC in a couple weeks is going to be something to keep an eye on. The UFC brand is bigger than ever with the Fox deal, so maybe all that extra exposure can give the game a huge boost. They've had ads on the mat for all the shows over the last couple of months.
Poor sales for that game would be the final nail in the coffin.
Pushing Metro to 2013 is ridiculous. Well, THQ doesn't own IP, so the team will be able to find a new publisher (perhaps a smaller one) and finish the game.
Why would they find a new publisher because of that? It's been delayed for a reason.
Hopefully they will be around long enough for us to get Saints row 4.
Wouldn't it make sense to get the 40k MMO out of the gate?
Seems like a game that could generate a steady stream of revenue, if handled properly.
I don't know much about MMOs or their development circle, so maybe I'm wrong here entirely, but if they managed to reduce the scale of the project and get it our earlier, it would make some cash.
Because the game was planned bigger and some things are already done, they could add expansions and content updates pretty early in its life-circle to keep the audience and get extra revenue.
Also: If they decide to only keep the studios, that are doing the already announced work, wouldn't that allow them to cut many extra costs - at the expense of nothing in the works for 2014 and ongoing?
I'd guess short term decisions are a tad more important now.
The 40K MMO probably wouldn't stand a chance as it is now with the market, and releasing whatever they have now with the promise of more in the future, if people pay for it, would make sure that the game would not survive after its initial month of release.
And killing anything not formally announced like the Patrice game would be crazy, since that stuff is what could save THQ right now, if they launch a good game at the beginning of the new console cycle, could put them in a Assassins Creed like spot for the future generation.
I still don't understand how it's been possible not to bring uDraw on PS360, but to rely so much on it, to spend so much money for it...an huge black hole that could kill them. It's absurd. Sometimes, it seems executives, marketing people, etc. etc. ...don't know a shit about the real world. As well as the analyst. Bah.
Sometimes, it seems executives, marketing people, etc. etc. ...don't know a shit about the real world. As well as the analyst. Bah.
They should change their name during this reboot process to Triple V or something cooler than that(because I can't think of anything cooler).
Pushing Metro to 2013 is ridiculous. Well, THQ doesn't own IP, so the team will be able to find a new publisher (perhaps a smaller one) and finish the game.
They are a huge takeover target. I just don't know who is buying right now...
Sony has too many studios as is. Microsoft has been getting rid of 1st party developers not vice versa. Nintendo doesn't typically buy companies -- they partner with them.
That leaves the third party studios. With their "core" audience focus, I can't see them being targeted by EA / Activision, etc, as they conflict with existing franchises.
Id speculate theyre best hope is an investor outside the game industry or one from the casual market like Zynga that wanted to gain some traditional game resources. Or a Japanese company hoping to get a foothold in the west.
Goodbye THQ. So does this mean that my prediction of Saints Row 3 performing not as well as the competition was on the mark? Truth be told it would probably be hard to compete against BF3, MW3, Skyrim, etc.
Gonna get bought by Konami I bet. Maybe Namco Bandai. Mayyyyyyyyybe Capcom, but I really doubt it.
4 million for SR3 seems pretty good to me. If your prediction was that it would sell less than BF, MW, and Skyrim, well then, yes you were right, but there's no prizes for stating the obvious.
Capcom have said that they're looking at to buy Western devs. THQ are a lot like Eidos before Square bought them. Lots of talent but the management doesn't know how to handle it.
It's really impossible to say whether the game would have sold better at a different time though. There's a reason why publishers keep dumping games out at the holiday time frame.It was more along the lines of it being treated harshly by the buying public due to the launch month it was set in. Pretty sure I have a post somewhere in November stating so. Kinda unfortunate since I loved SR3, but I suppose even the "yearly plan for DLC!" did not even out whatever ramifications were incoming.
Mismanagement total
Gonna get bought by Konami I bet. Maybe Namco Bandai. Mayyyyyyyyybe Capcom, but I really doubt it.
oh you seem to be in the know? for which reason exactly?
.
Games don't get delayed for no reason.
Square or Warner Brothers.