Awesome news for my fellow THQ (THQI) shareholders: CEO Brian Farrell announced at the E3 conference that the recently-released UFC 2009: Undisputed has shipped a whopping 2 million units in less than two weeks.
That’s huge.
To put the numbers in perspective, analysts expected the game to sell 2 million units over the next three quarters. THQ is up 7% today to $7.30 on the news, and it is going higher.
The UFC franchise has officially become the next big sports franchise. Forget about Electronic Arts’ (ERTS) upcoming EA Sports MMA game. Outside of Japan, the UFC is the undisputed King of the mixed martial arts food chain, to the point where people actually believe Ultimate Fighting or UFC is actually the name of the sport.
There are only so many big names in MMA outside of the UFC, and probably not enough to make a full game. So far we know that MMA legend Frank Shamrock will be in the game, but Shamrock is old and beaten up, having lost 3 of his last 4 fights. EA also won’t have the benefit of associating itself with a known promotion like the UFC, which can use its own marketing muscle to push the game.
THQ has another thing going for it – Red Faction: Guerilla. To just about everyone’s surprise, the game is getting very good reviews, with an 89%+ rating on GameRankings.com. While the game hasn’t generated much buzz, the positive reviews should spur sales, leading to above-consensus sales.
On a final note, the UFC just signed backyard-brawling Internet sensation Kimbo Slice to appear on the next season of it’s reality show, The Ultimate Fighter. Viewership for TUF hasn’t been so hot the past couple of years, but the presence of the controversial Kimbo Slice will help draw blockbuster ratings, which will have more fans watching UFC events.
I’m still long THQ (almost in the green!), and will be looking to buy more.
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