Is WWE’s Decreasing Popularity Affecting THQ’s Games Sales?

THQ recently announced its quarterly earnings and revenue for the company has plummeted big time. The company’s revenue stands currently at $124.2 million which dropped from $197.6 million only a year earlier.

Although THQ has published a lot of games over the years, one of its best performers over the last decade have been its Smackdown series. However, over the years popularity in the WWE has decreased and this has affected the game sales of one of THQ’s most important game franchises.

[dangert12]

not really you don't have to be a wwe fan to enjoy here comes there pain

i don't know ufc to well but i enjoy thq's first game thing is thq have changed formula since the ps2 days and it needs improving

[evrfighter]

over saturation's a b*tch ain't it THQ.

[InLaLaLand]

They have slowed the gameplay down this gen for the smackdown games but the engine seems the same since PS1 days, with the moves and collision detection.

WWE as a whole is getting boring, I watch Botchamania.

[thats_just_prime]

They are just releasing the same game year after year. they only think that really changes is then story mode and those have always sucked anyways

[DeadlyFire]

NO!

Only thing effecting their game sales is Yukes. Force them to build a better game or tell them to GTFO.

Instead of making SVR series better they make oddball Legends games. Rebuild SVR on a new game engine. Its what everyone wants. Yet you hold back from doing so.

[zag]

THQ is really doing bad because of the GFC.

That sort of stuff always takes a bit to show in the books.

You can't expect people to keep buying heaps of games when they don't have heaps of cash to buy them.

it's pretty simple really.

[NMC2007]

We just need a more perfected version of WWE All-Stars.... maybe! I dunno.

[captain-obvious]

i dont think WWE is losing popularity
especially after they went PG13
like a bazillion kid watch that sh*t

[dangert12]

It is, i used to know it was fake but still be a big fan the charectars the storylines from back in the day are gone check out how different it was back in the day
Undertaker
Kane (masked kane)
China
Goldust
DX
The Rock
Stone Cold
^^^^ they were all great charectars now they all seem the same bar the older ones still in

[zag]

Those people are just after the golden era for the 90's

I stopped watching it because the story is the same thing over and over it gets boring.

The fumola they go for, is spend 3 months with a set story then completely ruin or change what is happening for the next 3 months and keep doing that.

So someone will be a heal 3 months later they'll be in a tag team as a baby face, then 3 months later be a baby face still but have a fall out with the tag team and go their own way, which 3 months down the track causes them to be a heal again.

rinse and repeat for any one in the WWE company spin offs.

[user858621]

during the attitude error their ratings were at 4.5 average sometimes peaking at 5

in the pg era their ratings are at 3-3.5 average so yh they lost a lot of popularity

[DeadlyFire]

That was every week for Raw right. I know smackdown stays below 3.0 ratings now.

Raw hits 3.0 or less and Vince jumps up and does something interesting to spike it back up a little then it goes back to regular routine. Gradually dropping. They are considering using the Rock on more shows even if he doesn't wrestle just due to the ratings bump he gives the show. If he agrees to it.

TNA ratings are solid around 1.1 now. I hope they hit 2.0 soon and maybe 3.0 within the next year.

I don't believe game sales lowering are due to the PG era as the games still have blood, chairs, ladders, tables, and barbed wire I believe. The games are rated TV 14. The show is PG crap. Here is the game's problem. Game engine could be rebuilt a bit. It looks the same every year and its getting tiresome to look at it. Its been that way since new Consoles were launched really. They need to use a stronger and more amped up game engine. If they did it would = success.

[xVeZx]

nah it cant be that the game has been the same since smackdown on the ps1....its the decreasing popularity thats it.....

[arjman]

WWE as a whole began losing popularity after ending the Attitude Era and bringing in this PG crap

[Jonah_Reese]

You know, the Attitude era ended in 2003 and WWE just went PG in 2009 right? up til 2009 was the (apparently forgotten by name) "Ruthless Aggression" era. Just saying.

[arjman]

I know but they were slowly becoming worse and worse during that gap, instead of sticking to the Attitude formula. The way I worded it may be weird but I meant that ^, it's just those were two defining moments

[Jonah_Reese]

Oh Okay, personally for the sake of their company I think they need to go back to at least the ruthless Aggression era. I can at least say that even now in the PG era (also just an opinion) the WWE is way more innovative and entertaining than TNA. Every time I look forward to that show [TNA], it lets me down. They have even worse booking than WWE. As a whole wrestling is in the state of disappointment for me.

Also, I know people don't like to hear this. But John Cena is one of the most respected wrestlers to date. He may not be the best wrestler but he sure as hell has a lot of heart for the business.

[zag]

it's been dying before 2000.

The death then buy out of WCW pretty much was the bell ringing to say this game is dying a slow death.

They keep it going by moving the shows outside the USA, in Australia every show is always sold out, some with-in hours.

but the 3 or 4 shows can't save a company.

[KILLERAPP]

No game had ever beat No Mercy, here comes the pain was the closets one but No Mercy is just freaking awesome and No Mercy was a Nintendo 64 game back the WWF was ruling Monday nights, THQ needs a new engine to make there games better but what they desperly need is some competition...

[MrBeatdown]

I think it's just that recent titles are a little too similar. The first five or six games were all big steps up. I remember playing each and they all felt different. 2006 was the pinnacle of the series for me. Since the 2007 game, the differences have been less significant with a feature or new match being the highlight. There are changes, and they get better, but it's not enough any more. I was a Smackdown diehard and my interest has dropped. The 2011 game was the first game that I didn't buy on day 1, yet I'm still as big of a WWE fan as ever.

[Hudahudahuda]

Back in the day

We had

The Rock
Stone Cold
Triple H
Undertaker
Kurt Angle
HBK

Every week on wwf

Now in WWE (worst wrestling ever)

Fruity Pebbles
Randy Boring
CM C*nt

Wrestling kinda died for me after wrestlemania 20.

[F4sterTh4nFTL]

.

[captain-obvious]

CM punk is an old timer too in the wrestling business

and yah he is great

[Zydake]

@ captain obvious

Shame on you CM Punks the best heel now LOL

[49erguy]

Randy Orton really IS fucking boring, heel or face. Back in the day HHH was the greatest heel of all time IMO. Cena can't wrestle and CM isn't bad, just corny on the mic.

[InLaLaLand]

Who remembers RAW between 2002 to 2005, damn Triple H dominated the WHC picture which kinda made RAW boring but Smackdown more interesting with the upcoming wrestlers like Lesnar and Guerrero.

Triple H was a great Heel during 1999 to 2001.

[Finger-Eater]

Cant agree with you more, all those wrestlers you listed were classics. Funny coincidence is I also stopped watching the show around 2004 too. It became more of a joke and a soap opera with boring wrestlers. I miss the old WWE and WWF.

[KILLERAPP]

Long live the WWF, RIP WWE....

[Snakefist30]

Just get ride of John Cena and Bring kurt angle and buy some stars from TNA and Bring back the attitude era!

[Jonah_Reese]

People seem to think Cena is the problem with WWE... guess that's the price when the company goes left and you're the face of said company. People blame the Talent, poor Cena. He's not going anywhere. He carried the company when it's heavy hitters were gone, Vince loves him, Austin likes him, The Rock respects him, so does Taker and HHH. He is now what Hogan was for WWE back in the 80's, a merchandise mover.

To answer the question of the article, no. Certain games can continue selling nice to amazing numbers. I mean for awhile not too many people were feeling the Madden games or the NBA titles. But lately they have a second wind, they're actually improving their games, not just making tweaks here and there. I like where there head was at for All-Stars, classic arcade style wrestling game.

[InLaLaLand]

So true, he makes the company a lot of money. I think the storylines and the young talent they have got get pushed aside (well Wade Barrett and Alberto Del Rio) makes the older fans hate the product more.

[Ace_Man_6]

WWE's popularity definitely isn't decreasing. Every week all the shows seems to be sold out, plus WrestleMania 27 still had over 70,000 people, it's just games are getting more and more shit every year lol

[Thepro318]

WWE tv ratings suck now. Why you think they had legends headlining wrestlemania 27 The Rock Austin HHHvsTaker ? Because WWE fans stop watching RAW use get 15 million viewers an smackdown was hitting 9 million on UPN in 2000 . Neither show seeing numbers like that.

[Thepro318]

Put the rock an Austin on the cover an called WwE Games Collection. Have No Mercy HD Here comes the Pain HD REMAKE an Wrestlemania REMAKE HD . Since WwE owns WcW bring back WcW/NwO revenge as well with trophies an avatars.

[49erguy]

They just need to bring back the gameplay from Here Comes The Pain. It was slightly unrealistic but that's the charm and fun in the old WWF games. Matches are way too slow paced in the new games and they're all the same.

Graphics SUCK in new WWE games. Back in the day I visualized them looking much better than they do. I expected them to look like Fight Night!

[InLaLaLand]

I agree I loved WCW Revenge.

[Thepro318]

They need rip grapple system from EA's MMA while using here the pain's style fighting. You a stamina system an use Euphoria physics engine

[JD_Shadow]

It's a few things:

1. That damn online pass that THQ has been doing anymore (and that THQ seems to have every intention of telling the critics of that to go fuck themselves...either that or that they are already pirates; see why now I use the "piracy is a crime" thing rather cautiously?). Stop using that, and THQ will see it go up some. Some are just boycotting that.

2. The whole "yearly game that doesn't improve anything" laziness. ADD SOMETHING WORTHWHILE OR DON'T DO YEARLY GAMES! Don't understand why this is such a hard thing for these types of people to grasp! Maybe you'll make MORE money if you release one base game and then yearly updates to things like rosters, arenas, stadiums, and such could be sold as DLC for a fraction price. People have expressed desire for that kind of thing. Thing is, the mainstream are too stupid and/or blind to realize this and will buy ANYTHING and then feel as though they are entitled to everything.

3. The create-a-<insert word here> structures have become more restrictive with each passing year. I remember when we were able to choose a "what's this person's gender" type for our create-a-wrestler (like, a monster of some sort). Now we can't do that (it also was able to bypass the whole thing of not being able to use female wrestlers in season mode, another huge complaint that THQ ignored for the longest time...not sure if they've actually added that yet or not). It seems like THQ wants to go "you can make anyone you want...BUT DON'T MAKE THE PERSON YOU'RE THINKING OF"! Put back that "???" gender choice, THQ, and stop taking out create-a options!

[Zydake]

I say at least every 2 years to update because I still buy WWE Games and there isn't any improvement. If i see the other one isn't no improvement to 2011 Bye bye SvR

[nevin1]

its a shame here comes the pain was the last good wrestling game. the 1st vs raw was ok. 06 was overall passable but it was the beginning of the end as 07 was horrible. it was the last smackdown game i bought but i sold it quickly.

i can't believe the game is still based on the PS2 in terms of graphics and animation.

i have to disagree with the author on this statement.

"since Here Comes The Pain! came out in 2003, the controls have stayed relatively the same ever since."

they actually did change the control scheme but with horrible results in imo. i don't like dual stick controls.

bottom line thq, either go back to the here comes the pain formula and improved it, or start from scratch with PS3 as lead platform.

[Djinn]

Aftre Here Comes the Pain (the best wrestling game of all time), all the smackdown games went down hill. That's probably why the sales suck.

[thedriffter50]

Smackdown Here Comes The Pain was a fantastic game and I would go far as to say one of the PS2's top games along with San Andreas and MGS3.

The series has got worse over time. SvR2008 was the start because it was awful.

It also doesn't help that WWE in real life aren't pushing any good wrestlers such as Christian jobbing to Randy Thorton on Smackdown and had a 2 day title reign.

WWE is getting worse. I'm talking about both real life and the videogames.

Removing features also doesn't help. They removed pretty much everything that was good about the games in the first place like GM mode and season mode from HCTP.

[rapidturtle]

The fact that anyone still watches this crap just goes to show how stupid people really are. Who the hell pays $55 for a PPV, to watch a bunch of grown men, who are poor actors, throwing each other around a ring.
HEY PEOPLE, ITS FAKE!!!!!!!!!

[nevin1]

so are movies.

anyway, wrestling is part entertainment.

[rapidturtle]

Good guy fight bad guy, bad guy cheat. Another bad guy come to ring to beat up good guy. Ref gets knocked out. Nutter good guy come to save other good guy.
I'm on the edge of my seat....