Disney Pixar's Wall-E drummed up box office success and big critical acclaim, but the THQ-published game has been struggling at retail.
Initial sell-through for the game, released in the U.S. in late June, has been 114,000 units, according to an investor note from analyst firm Signal Hill. That figure is flat year-on-year with the Ratatouille game, another title based on a Disney Pixar flick.
"While Wall-E initially seemed well positioned given the easy comp vs Ratatouille and strong box office and critical acclaim for the movie, thus far it does not seem so promising for the videogame," said Signal Hill analyst Tom Greenwald.
"...The game is already being discounted across all platforms at retailers such as Gamestop."
Prior to the Wall-E game's release, analysts and THQ execs were optimistic that the game would sell better than Ratatouille, as some believed a robot-based game would be more appealing than a rat-based game.
But the Wall-E game, a key title in THQ's lineup, has reviewed poorly and hasn't gained traction with consumers.
Analyst Arvind Bhatia with Sterne Agee said in a separate note, "[THQ's] full year guidance of $0.95-$1.05 may be at risk due to the initial performance of Wall-E."
However, Michael Pachter with Wedbush Morgan says not all hope is lost for Wall-E success.
"We expect Wall-E sales to skew heavily toward the holiday quarter as well, and believe that the game will sell through better than its predecessor, Ratatouille."
He estimates Wall-E sell-through of 4.5 million units, a 10 percent increase over Ratatouille. "...Recent investor concerns about the game’s first week sales being 'disappointing' are misguided," Pachter added.
THQ has yet to match the success of the Disney Pixar game tie-in Cars, which was the second-best-selling game of 2007 in North America.
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Initial sell-through for the game, released in the U.S. in late June, has been 114,000 units, according to an investor note from analyst firm Signal Hill. That figure is flat year-on-year with the Ratatouille game, another title based on a Disney Pixar flick.
"While Wall-E initially seemed well positioned given the easy comp vs Ratatouille and strong box office and critical acclaim for the movie, thus far it does not seem so promising for the videogame," said Signal Hill analyst Tom Greenwald.
"...The game is already being discounted across all platforms at retailers such as Gamestop."
Prior to the Wall-E game's release, analysts and THQ execs were optimistic that the game would sell better than Ratatouille, as some believed a robot-based game would be more appealing than a rat-based game.
But the Wall-E game, a key title in THQ's lineup, has reviewed poorly and hasn't gained traction with consumers.
Analyst Arvind Bhatia with Sterne Agee said in a separate note, "[THQ's] full year guidance of $0.95-$1.05 may be at risk due to the initial performance of Wall-E."
However, Michael Pachter with Wedbush Morgan says not all hope is lost for Wall-E success.
"We expect Wall-E sales to skew heavily toward the holiday quarter as well, and believe that the game will sell through better than its predecessor, Ratatouille."
He estimates Wall-E sell-through of 4.5 million units, a 10 percent increase over Ratatouille. "...Recent investor concerns about the game’s first week sales being 'disappointing' are misguided," Pachter added.
THQ has yet to match the success of the Disney Pixar game tie-in Cars, which was the second-best-selling game of 2007 in North America.
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