Sebastian: THQ to maintain close ties with Nintendo, Microsoft

Following the release of THQ‘s second quarter fiscal 2008 results, Lazard Capital analyst Colin Sebastian has revealed that Lazard expects THQ to “remain more closely aligned” with Nintendo and Microsoft‘s respective platforms compared to those from Sony. Sebastian also mentioned a few of THQ’s key titles which are expected to help pull up the company’s revenues from internal studios. Check out Sebastian’s statement at the full article.

In a recent investor meeting with THQ management hosted by analyst group Lazard Capital, Lazard Capital analyst Colin Sebastian stated that they expect THQ to focus on Nintendo and Microsoft platforms as opposed to Sony‘s. This meeting followed THQ’s announcement of its Q2 fiscal results, which showed a loss of US$ 7 million.

“We expect THQ to remain more closely aligned with Nintendo and Microsoft platforms over the next couple of years, reflecting THQÂ’s historical strength on handhelds (GBA and DS), increasing development slate for NintendoÂ’s Wii, early success with titles on the Xbox 360 (e.g. Saints Row) and a slower ramp on the PS3,” said Sebastian.

Sebastian also noted that THQ’s Wall-E, the company’s next title based on a Pixar property, may be received more favorably compared to Ratatouille (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP) as it is “expected to have broader consumer appeal“. Sebastian pointed to THQ’s other key IPs such as Saints Row 2 (PS3, 360) and WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2008 (PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, DS) to lead the way in increasing the company’s revenues from internally owned and developed games.