THQ 2009 Annual Report Download - page 4

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First. We plan to build on existing franchises and launch one-to-two new titles targeted to
the core gamer each year. Our owned intellectual property Saints Row® and our long-term
licensed franchise Warhammer® 40,000™ provide key pillars of our core gamer portfolio
and we plan to sequel and extend these franchises for many years to come. To date, we have
shipped nearly 5 million units of our Saints Row franchise and more than 4.5 million units of
our Warhammer 40,000 franchise. These results demonstrate that when we focus, build quality
games, market them aggressively and launch them in appropriate windows, we are successful.
We are looking forward to building on our portfolio of owned intellectual properties with
Red Faction®: Guerrilla™ and Darksiders in scal 2010. In addition, we plan to release two
core gamer titles, Homefront™ and Warhammer® 40,000™: Space Marine®, in scal 2011.
Second. We are the leaders in the ghting category and we are expanding this industry
leadership. We are very excited about the addition of the UFC franchise to our portfolio.
On May 19, 2009, we launched UFC® 2009 Undisputed™ to great critical and commercial
success. We expect our UFC games to be a key driver of net sales for many years to come
as we build this brand by enhancing online features, entering new geographic
markets and adding gaming platforms.
We have generated more than one billion dollars in sales of video games based on
World Wrestling Entertainment® (“WWE”) and this franchise continues to be an annual
multi-million unit seller for THQ. In scal 2009, we shipped more than 4.5 million units of
our WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 title. In March of 2009, we launched a successful new
brand extension, WWE® Legends of Wrestlemania®. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 is
scheduled for release this holiday season, with brand new customization features.
Third. We are reinvigorating our kids portfolio. In addition to our Disney•Pixar and
Nickelodeon® games, we plan to launch games based on exciting new franchises this scal
year with Marvel® Super Hero Squad™ and next scal year with DreamWorks Animation’s
super hero themed movie Oobermind™. Our rst games based on Marvel Super Hero Squad
are scheduled to ship this holiday season and we expect this to be an annual franchise for
several years to come. Our strategy for our kids business includes aggressively managing
our development and marketing costs to improve protability in this category.
Fourth. We plan to build on our already protable mass appeal and family game franchises.
We are excited to launch MX vs. ATV Reflex, our latest installment of the industry’s
best-selling off-road racing game, inscal 2010. To date, we have shipped more than
7.5 million units of this franchise. In addition, we have several strong franchises targeted
to consumers on the Nintendo platforms. Our fiscal 2009 revenues on the Wii™ nearly
doubled as a percent of net sales to 17% from 9% a year ago, driven largely by the success
of casual budget games such as Big Beach Sports™ and full priced innovative games like
de Blob. For scal 2010, we plan to release new intellectual property World of Zoo™ on
the Wii. We also plan to bring the successful Drawn to Life® franchise to the Wii for
the first time and to launch new fitness games based on The Biggest Loser television
series. Going forward, we intend to continue to leverage proven franchises and introduce
new casual games at both full and budget price points on the popular Nintendo platforms.
Fifth. We view the emerging online gaming market as a solid long-term opportunity for
THQ. We plan to extend our key franchises online, rst in scal 2010 with
, in conjunction with leading Chinese games operator Shanda Interactive
Entertainment, and we look forward to its commercial release later this scal year. Other
brand extension initiatives include our WWE online game being developed in Asia and
our Warhammer 40,000 Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game being developed at
our Vigil Games studio. In addition to extending our current franchises online, we are
exploring new online game concepts and models such as our new casual MMO,
, which is the rst game under our THQ•ICE joint venture and is
scheduled for release in North America this fall.
In summary, we have quickly realigned our business, and have made strong progress in
our ve point product strategy that we expect will drive THQ’s net sales for years to come.
product quality approach, and a more efcient cost structure, we have positioned THQ to
return to protability and to generate positive cash ow in scal 2010. In addition, we
have a strong Studio System and we are investing in the brands and games with the highest
potential to drive THQ’s long-term protable growth.
Our entire organization is focused on executing on this strategy. I am condent that with
employees, we will accomplish our goals.
Sincerely,