E3 2011

UFC Undisputed 2010 sales disappoint

Brendan Sinclair
By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

Lower-than-expected sales of mixed martial arts sequel, strength of US dollar push THQ to cut quarterly financial guidance roughly 18 percent.

Last year, THQ's UFC Undisputed 2009 was a first-round knockout, garnering critical acclaim and topping 3.5 million in sales. While this year's installment received comparable reviews, its sales have been disappointing, THQ revealed today.

UFC Undisputed 2010's sales pummeled THQ's financial projections.

UFC Undisputed 2010's sales pummeled THQ's financial projections.

The publisher today warned investors that its sales for the current fiscal quarter would be roughly 18 percent lower than it had previously expected, due to lower-than-expected sales of UFC and a stronger US dollar. THQ had been expecting revenues for the quarter ending June 30 to fall between $190 million and $200 million but now expects sales to range from $155 million to $165 million. It also expects to post losses of $0.20 to $0.30 per share, where it had previously expected to break even. In a note to investors, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said the reduced guidance suggests that UFC Undisputed 2010 sales will fall about 1 million copies shy of THQ's expectations.

THQ said it has shipped 2.6 million copies of UFC Undisputed 2010 to date, but sell-through to consumers has been below expectations. Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald said the publisher will need to run a lot of promotions and price cuts on the game over the next 3 to 6 months to help retailers move all those copies of the game. As for the reasons behind the disappointing sales, Greenwald noted competition from other new releases (specifically Red Dead Redemption) and suggested that UFC games aren't suited to annualized releases in the same way other sports are.

Brendan Sinclair
By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.

34 Comments

  • Hrel

    Posted Sep 6, 2010 10:53 pm GMT

    @kingatrock If you play this game at all you'll immediately notice that the gameplay has been hugely redone. It's much better, and I can say from real life experience much more realistic and intuitive to what it's like to actually fight. The literally went in and re-programmed the code for the games engine, which runs everything. Now I agree they shouldn't release a new one every year, but this one is a pretty huge improvement to the last one. One really stupid thing is all the stuff in the PS3 version that you can't get on the xbox version. REALLY frustrating.

  • KingAtRock

    Posted Jun 18, 2010 1:34 am GMT

    No innovation, trying to milk a new franchise like madden. Gameplay looks the same, why bother buying.. looks like others agreed with me. Hope they learn.

  • JSusie

    Posted Jun 15, 2010 9:27 pm GMT

    A guide to having a successful title:

    1. Dont alienate your fanbase from previous games (online code).
    2. Dont release a game anytime near something from Rockstar is coming out (even if the Rockstar game sucks).
    3. If a game isnt suited for annual releases.....dont make it released annually.
    4. If your first game had glaring problems, fix them!

    PS. In #2 I wasnt saying RDR sucked, because it doesnt. I was saying that Rockstar could release "Pillowfight Arena: Carebears vs My Little Pony" and people would still buy it.

  • nowwwe

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 7:00 pm GMT

    big update ufc 2010 ....

  • KoolzKatz

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 6:17 pm GMT

    "UFC games aren't suited to annualized releases in the same way other sports are."

    That line says it all

  • BangaaPride

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 4:02 pm GMT

    Actually, I don't there's anything wrong with Undisputed at all, just that Red Dead Redemption really smashed into UFC's sales. UFC is solid but everyone was hyping RDR as THE game to own.

  • Lauryn2000

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 3:40 pm GMT

    Brock Lesnar was the wrong guy to put on the cover..IMO.I would have used Pierre or Silva to grace the cover.And if pushed came to shove BJ Penn..hell even Tito Ortiz.

  • Lucidmike78

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 2:28 pm GMT

    It was a mistake to announce UFC 2010 a few days UFC 2009 was released. Then, have the game pretty much look the same.

  • chadbtownvt

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 2:02 pm GMT

    obviously ufc 2010 isn't all that much different then 2009, 2010 still has issues and thq just needs new developers, get the right team and I'm sure you can create a good ufc game that looks and feels authentic. i love watching ufc on spike and payperview but these games suck and until they find the right crew to develop ufc games there sales will suck and the game will suck as well.

  • Zerot

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 2:02 pm GMT

    I played this game seemed ok but the gameplay is random so its really not a game id consider it more a novelty item.

  • COPMAN221

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:55 pm GMT

    I think it has to do more with EA and their stupid online code to play. I for one will not buy anymore EA products until they drop that stupid idea..

  • ji_long

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:39 pm GMT

    @ Tapout
    "With car companies that is why they sell cars for above cost because of labor and other losses such as cars resale." according to this logic Video game devs also charge more than cost, wayyy more than cost you don't honestly believe it costs 60 dollars per disc, that is for labor and marketing just as with car companies.

  • ji_long

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:32 pm GMT

    @ Tapout
    It is exactly the same thing. Cadillac( or any other manufacturer) doesnt make any money when you buy from carmax or any other used car company.

  • tapout03

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:25 pm GMT

    ji long im sorry to tell you but your car comparison is off base because they are two totally different things one game companies don't make any money when the game is resold (that is why they are charging for online use now to used copies). With car companies that is why they sell cars for above cost because of labor and other losses such as cars resale.

  • EPaul

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:22 pm GMT

    Maybe it was too soon for it

  • ji_long

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:14 pm GMT

    @ caveman lawyer
    I agree 100% I don't really Game on my PC but my friend refused to buy many games for this very reason.

  • CavemanLawyer

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:11 pm GMT

    HAHA!!!! This is beautiful! Ok story time - Not the people here, but the majority of people say that piracy has hurt PC gaming, which is totally wrong. The true fact is that DRM has hurt PC gaming. Now people say that's crap since a "smalllllllll" problem like DRM would NEVER halt gaming sales on high proportions like we have seen with PC gaming sales... Wellll lookey here. We have people on Gamespot saying they didn't buy because of the, essentially, DRM! Now the consoletard kiddies finally see the light and can understand why PC gamers have got in such an uproar over the past 10 years.

  • IcY_PonCheEzY

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:10 pm GMT

    Sports games do not need an annual release. It would make more sense if maybe they just offer roster updates and stuff via dlc or somthing. Especially if your not doing anything innovating in terms of the actuall gameplay.

  • IcY_PonCheEzY

    Posted Jun 14, 2010 1:10 pm GMT

    Sports games do not need an annual release. It would make more sense if maybe they just offer roster updates and stuff via dlc or somthing. Especially if your not doing anything innovating in terms of the actuall gameplay.