Low UFC sales cause financial rethink

Echoing concerns expressed by analysts earlier this month, THQ has been forced to reduce its financial forecasts for the current year thanks to lower than expected sales of next-gen fighter UFC 2010 Undisputed.

The publisher now expects non-GAAP net sales of $155m-$165m for the quarter ending June 30th 2010, down from the previous figure of $190m-$200m.

For its full fiscal year it now expects non-GAAP net sales of $845m-$865m, down from $905m-$920m.

UFC Undisputed 2010 is a high quality game, with a Metacritic score of 85 per cent, based on the tremendous UFC brand,” president and CEO Brian Farrell stated. Pre-orders were up 50 per cent over last year and we saw strong retail and consumer demand for the title coming into launch, resulting in shipments of 2.6m units to date.

Unfortunately, total sell through to date has been below our expectations and prior-year results. We will continue to drive demand through a strong marketing campaign and by working with our partners at the UFC, including the upcoming July 4th UFC 116 event featuring our cover athlete, Brock Lesnar.

While we are disappointed with this financial update, we continue to execute on our plan of bringing quality games to market .Our primary goal in fiscal 2011 was to position THQ for growth in fiscal 2012 and beyond.”