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THQ Extremely Pleased With Early Finding Nemo Sales

13th June 2003, 3:43pm
Video game publisher THQ Inc. on Tuesday said it was "extremely pleased" with early results for the video game "Finding Nemo," based on the blockbuster animated feature.

THQ Chief Executive Brian Farrell, speaking at a Bear Stearns investment conference monitored via Webcast, said the company was hoping that sales would be spurred over the next year as the game and film are released in different territories and new versions of the game come out.

"We're extremely pleased with the start of both the film and the game here in the United States," Farrell said.

The film debuted May 30 in the United States and had grossed $143.3 million through Sunday, putting it on track to be the biggest release ever from the partnership between Pixar Animation Studios Inc. and Walt Disney Co.

The game version of "Nemo" launched in early May across six different platforms, with some versions packaged with a free ticket to the movie.

Farrell said the game would get a further bump in sales over the next year when the film launches in Europe and Asia, the DVD is released in the United States, and the game achieves "greatest hits" status, when they are typically also discounted.

Analysts have suggested that projections for "Nemo" make up as much as 35 percent of THQ's guidance for the June quarter.

Farrell also addressed questions about "Full Spectrum Warrior," the military action game it debuted at an industry trade show last month to rave reviews and early awards from gaming critics. The game is expected to be released on the PC and on Microsoft Corp.'s game console.

"We would expect that Microsoft would be very aggressive in keeping this an Xbox exclusive," Farrell said.
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by Damien