THQ Announces The Incredibles Will Be Back in Action on All Major Game Systems
Follow-Up to the Top Selling Videogame Set to Hit Stores This Fall
CALABASAS HILLS, Calif., Feb 01, 2005 - THQ Inc. (Nasdaq: THQI) today announced a follow-up to the hit videogame based on a Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Pixar Animations Studios film, The Incredibles. The follow-up to The Incredibles is scheduled to release this fall on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PSPTM handheld entertainment system, the Xbox® videogame system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCubeTM, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo DSTM videogame systems, and PC/Mac.
THQ continues to enjoy enormous success with The Incredibles, which launched in conjunction with the theatrical release this past November. Shipments of the game domestically have exceeded 2.5 million units and it finished 2004 as the overall best-selling new property of the year in the U.S., according to The NPD Group.
"Our ability to work with Disney and Pixar in creating this all new videogame based on the extremely popular Incredibles property demonstrates the depth of THQ's relationship with the talented teams at Disney and Pixar," said Jack Sorensen, Executive Vice President of Worldwide Studios, THQ. "This next installment in the videogame series will give millions of fans worldwide the opportunity to interact with Mr. Incredible and many other beloved Incredibles characters in a brand new adventure this fall."
"The first game based on The Incredibles truly represented the high action vision Director Brad Bird had for the film," said Pixar Animation Studios John Walker, producer of The Incredibles. "This new game will encompass all the thrills and intensity of the first while taking players and our favorite superheroes to an entirely new dimension of The Incredibles world."
"After the amazing success of The Incredibles film and videogames, we look forward to BVG, Pixar and THQ joining forces once again to bring fans another chapter in this action-packed franchise," said Graham Hopper, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Buena Vista Games, Inc. (BVG).
THQ's Heavy Iron Studios will develop the next console versions of The Incredibles and the company's Nintendo handheld studio Helixe, will develop the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions. THQ's PSP exclusive studio, Pacific Coast Power & Light, will develop the PSP version of the game.
About Pixar Animation Studios
Pixar Animation Studios combines creative and technical artistry to create original stories in the medium of computer animation. Pixar has created six of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time: Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Pixar has won 16 Academy Awards® and its six films have grossed more than $3.2 billion at the worldwide box office to date. The Northern California studio will release its next film, Cars, on June 9, 2006.
About Disney Interactive
Disney Interactive is the award-winning publishing label of Buena Vista Games, Inc. The label produces high quality interactive video games and CD-ROMs. Buena Vista Games, Inc. is the interactive entertainment arm of The Walt Disney Company's Consumer Products business unit. For more information on Disney Interactive's products, visit www.disneyinteractive.com.
About The NPD Group
The NPD Group is an independent leading market information provider, which evaluates companies in a wide range of industries. Since 1967, NPD has supplied reliable and comprehensive sales and marketing information in order to help more than 1,300 manufacturers and retailers better understand their customers, product categories, distribution channels and competition in order to help guide their business and positively impact sales and revenues.
About THQ
THQ Inc. is a leading, worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms including PC CD- ROM, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Nintendo and Microsoft. The THQ web site is located at www.thq.com. THQ, Heavy Iron, Helixe, Pacific Coast Power & Light and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc.
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the business of THQ Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as "THQ"), including but not limited to expectations and projections related to the release and features of The Incredibles, and are based upon management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by management. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements, including, but not limited to economic, competitive and technological factors affecting the operations, markets, products, and pricing of THQ. Unless otherwise required by law, THQ disclaims any obligation to update its view on any such risks or uncertainties or to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward- looking statements. Readers should carefully review the risk factors and the information that could materially affect THQ's financial results, described in other documents that THQ files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal period ended March 31, 2004, and particularly the discussion of risk factors that may affect results of operations set forth therein. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.