THQ shifts forecasts as key products slip

Publisher THQ has changed its financial forecasts for the rest of the year, moving some revenues back into the third fiscal quarter due to the slippage of key titles Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy and Warhammer 40,000: Firewarrior.

Sphinx is now expected to ship on November 10 in the USA, rather than in September as was expected - meaning that revenues from the title will show up in Q3 rather than Q2 for THQ. However, the good news is that the company now plans to release an Xbox version at the same time, as well as the previously announced PS2 and Cube SKUs.

Warhammer, meanwhile, has a rather more unusual fate awaiting it - the ambitious PS2 online first person shooter will arrive on time in Europe (September), but won't ship in the USA until THQ's third quarter.

The date changes mean that although THQ's full year forecasts remain the same - with net sales of between $530 and $540 million, and earnings per share of between $0.80 and $0.85 - the second quarter is now looking a little weaker. Net sales forecasts for the quarter are down $15 million to $105 million, and earnings forecasts are down from $0.08 per share to $0.01 per share.

According to THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell, the slippage is down to a desire to make sure that the games are as good as possible; "We view Sphinx and Warhammer as important new products," he commented, "and we believe the extra time is critical to ensuring the best possible product quality."