by James Caldwell, Assistant editor

WWE has yet to announce when they will announce fourth quarter 2008 earnings for the months of October - December, but we can expect an earnings report sometime in February or early March when WWE also reports year-end 2008 earnings.

One of the keys will be how WWE presents the economic impact on one of its major business segments - licensing revenue through video game sales.

According to video game analysts, sales of the 2008 version of WWE's franchise video game, Smackdown vs. Raw, were down 22 percent in the U.S. compared to the 2007 version. The sharp decline doesn't bode well for the financial strength of WWE's video game publisher, THQ.

"The WWE decline is particularly concerning since that franchise had been one of THQ's last bastions of strength," said one Cowen and Company analyst.

More troubling is that analysts tracking reviews of the 2008 version of the video game noted more positive reviews, as THQ improved overall gameplay for users.

"The unit decline is not likely due to quality issues as this year's WWE title actually received meaningfully improved critical reviews compared to the last several editions," said analyst Doug Creutz.

Caldwell's Analysis: WWE reported fourth quarter 2007 earnings along with its year-end results in the beginning of February 2008, so barring an announcement in the next few days about when WWE will report fourth quarter 2008 earnings, WWE is behind-schedule organizing financials to be reported.

Certainly, the significant lay-off earlier this month and expected decline in financials from a rough economic quarter that resulted in WWE's stock price declining to five-year-lows doesn't help preparing the right message to investors with the most-recent financial results. The weak video game sales - as a key fourth quarter metric - is a good indicator of what to expect from WWE's financial positioning going forward into 2009. Stay tuned.

Link: Gamesindustry.biz story with analysis.

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