THQ made two big announcements today. The first was their fiscal third quarter results which was in line with expectations.

"We are pleased to report solid profitability in the third quarter and we are on track to achieve all of our fiscal 2010 financial targets that we announced at the beginning of the fiscal year," said THQ President and CEO Brian Farrell. "This marks a significant turnaround for THQ in just one year and underscores the success of our focused strategy and reduced cost structure."

For the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2009, THQ reported net sales of $356.7 million, compared with $357.3 million in the prior-year period.

For the three months ended December 31, 2009, the company reported net income of $542,000, or $0.01 per share, compared with a net loss of $191.8 million, or $2.86 per share, in the prior-year period.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2009, THQ reported net sales of $701.5 million, compared with $659.7 million in the prior-year period.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2009, the company reported net income of $1.4 million, or $0.02 per share, compared with a net loss of $334.2 million, or $5.01 per share, in the prior-year period.

Farrell said, "In addition to meeting our financial targets, we launched two new franchises, UFC and Darksiders, and significantly strengthened our balance sheet. We also secured new long-term license agreements and continued to migrate our brands to digital platforms in order to drive THQ’s growth over the next several years."

On top of that announcement they also confirmed the opening of new digital studios in Warrington and Phoenix which will focus on delivering titles that will emphasis digital delivery methods. THQ has taken its Juice Games and Rainbow Studios development studios and turned them to the creation of games for digital distribution and has renamed them THQ Digital Studios Warrington and THQ Digital Studios Phoenix, respectively.

The key objectives for THQ’s digital studios will be the development of digitally distributed games based on THQ’s core game brands and new original intellectual properties, and the implementation of a portfolio-wide community platform to connect consumers to all of THQ’s core games using proprietary technology developed by THQ Digital Studios Warrington.

THQ anticipates the first games from THQ Digital Studios Warrington and Phoenix to be released in fiscal 2011. The games are in development for all major digital platforms, including Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network, iPhone and iPad.

THQ plans to continue to publish MX vs. ATV games under the Rainbow Studios brand. As a result of the realignment, the company expects to reduce headcount in these studios by a total of approximately 60 people.

So they continue to expand but lose some people along the way. A shame during this time that they couldn’t see clear to hang on to those people at least long enough to let them find other employment. Hopefully, the severance packages will assist them for the time being.