THQ confirm lay-offs after huge loss
Tough time ahead for publisher
Speaking with investors stateside yesterday, publisher THQ revealed losses of nearly 200 million USD for the third-quarter, which ended on December 31st.
Sales dropped 30% on 2007 to 357.3 million USD, losses hitting 191.8 million. The publisher were already planning to cull 250 staff as a result of the economic down-turn, but now this will rise to some 600.
Apparently, 600 people amounts to a vast 24% of THQ's total workforce, which is an awful lot, far more than EA's moves effecting 11%, for example.
"Our focus for next fiscal year is to return to profitability and to generate cash," explained CEO Brian Farrell.
"Our fiscal 2010 plan will reflect the benefits of our focused product strategy and strong actions on costs."
As part of this approach, we hear THQ will plan and release fewer 'core' titles, big name, triple-A releases, but those games will benefit from more time and resources.
