happydolphin said:
That's a good point. Darksiders is their strongest IP, and it needs good flooring by other IPs, so that says alot. I have hope that Jason Rubin can bolster THQ's IPs, but on the short term the stock looks bleak. |
THQ will go bankrupt in the early years of the next generation of consoles if they don't establish a new homerun IP. They are essentially a distribution channel for developers/IP holders in an industry which developers no longer need to rely on a company with a big established distribution channel. They have no real value and their attempt to create new IP that they own is too little too late, I think. Their only IP is Saints Row, Company of Heroes(Which I loved), Red Faction, Homefront and Darksiders. I'd say only Saints Row and Company of Heroes has any real value though. You never know maybe they'll create the next big franchise, but I wouldn't put a dollar on that stock. Fingers crossed Metro: Last Light is well received.
TTWO on the other hand seems to make solid game after solid game. I don't understand how they don't produce more profits. Maybe they just haven't seen the return on their investment in all their IP yet or maybe it was just a weak 2011 line up that has kept them down. Their stock is what actually brought me to this thread. I was looking at 2K games/Rockstar's game line up and they have been acquiring quality IP over the past 10 years. TTWO might be the best third party game publisher in the industry today. They have GTA which is obviously the big prize Franchise. Then they have other big franchises in Red Dead, Bioshock, Borderlands, Mafia, Max Payne, Midnight Club, and NBA 2K as well as quality lesser sold IPs in Spec Ops, The Darkness, Manhunt and Civilization and well received stand alone games L.A. Noire and Bully. The most recent weekly chart has Take Two in 4 of the top 11 spots and 14 of the top 100 spots. With 6 unique games making the charts: NBA 2k13, Borderlands, Borderlands 2, Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption, and GTA IV.
According to it's game line up TTWO should post good numbers in the upcoming quarters. Their fiscals 2013 game line up is much stronger than their fiscal 2012 line up(which they lost $107.7 million on the year.) Comparing NBA 2K12, L.A. Noire, MLB 2K12, and Duke Nukem Forever to Max Payne 3, The Darkness II, Spec Ops: the Line, Borderlands 2, XCOM:Enemy Unknown, NBA 2K13, the Civ V expansion pack and the first month of Bioshock Infinite's sales, fiscal 2013 should be a much better year. Much more comparable to their fiscal 2011 game line up which netted $53.8 million for the year on sales from NBA 2K11, MLB2K10, Bioshock 2, Mafia II, Civ V, New Carnival Games, and Red Dead Redemption. Fiscal 2014 should see the release of GTA V making it a good year as well. I'm actually going to be watching the stock close and maybe tempted to invest, even though I normally don't invest in the video game industry.
My holdings include AAPL, GOOG, SIRI, NSC, AXP, MSFT, CVX, and F in order of their value, incase anyone was curious. And MSFT is in the video game industry but that's not why I invested in them, though I do like them having the XBOX brand.
