Midway Games has revised its financial estimates for the company’s third quarter and 2007 fiscal year in the wake of delays to the PlayStation 3 versions of Unreal Tournament 3, Stranglehold and BlackSite: Area 51.
The company is now expecting third quarter revenues of $39 million, down from the previously estimated amount of $50 million, and a net loss of $0.33 per basic and diluted share instead of $0.23. Fiscal year revenue estimates, earlier pegged at $225 million, have also been reduced to $170 million. The revised estimates come primarily as the result of the delay of the PlayStation 3 version of Unreal Tournament 3 into the first quarter of the 2008 fiscal year, causing it to miss the holiday sales season, as well as the decision to hold back Stranglehold for the fourth quarter to catch the Christmas rush rather than releasing it in the third quarter as originally planned, and finally lower-than-expected sales of BlackSite: Area 51 as a result of separate ship dates for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, with the European release of the PlayStation 3 version delayed until early 2008.
“While we regret that these delays will cause us to lose some valuable holiday sales in the near term as well as shift revenue for some of these titles out of 2007 and into 2008, we remain confident that our technology strategy and product plan position us to grow both revenue and market share as we move into the heart of this console cycle,” said Midway President and CEO David F. Zucker. “Looking ahead to 2008, with our core technology platform now in place, we expect to release a number of titles, including already announced console versions of Unreal Tournament 3, a next generation installment of our NBA Ballers franchise, Wheelman, and TNA iMPACT! the video game.”
Midway’s complete third quarter financial update is available here.
