THQ: Homefront Reaches 1M Sales, 2.4M ShippedTHQ: Homefront Reaches 1M Sales, 2.4M Shipped

THQ's alternate history shooter Homefront has sold through to consumers an estimated 1 million copies across North America, Europe and Asia, the publisher announced today, with a total of 2.4 million units shipped to stores so far. Worse-than-expected reviews for the title helped send THQ's stock tumbling 25 percent the day of its North American release nine days ago. The stock's price has been relatively flat since that decline. But THQ previously announced first day sales of 375,000 units for the title in North America. Homefront attracted over 200,000 pre-orders before its release, THQ said, making it the most pre-ordered game in the company's history. In the UK, Homefront premiered as the top-selling title for the week after a March 18 launch across Europe. Last week, Cowen and Company analyst Doug Creutz predicted Homefront would still attract lifetime sales of 2 million units despite the reviews. Lazard Capital analyst Colin Sebastian had previously predicted the title would ship only 1.5 million units in March. "We are very pleased with strong worldwide shipments and sell-through for Homefront, and we continue to fulfill new retail orders for the game across the globe," THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell said in a statement. "Homefront is clearly resonating with gamers and we are certainly pleased with our initial sales results." [UPDATE: EEDAR analyst Jesse Divinich said he thinks Homefront is now on track to sell 3 million units over its lifetime and believes investors have been too quick to punish THQ for early reviews. "As an industry—and this is specifically targeted towards analysts and investors — it is easy to become too reliant on a single metric, which may erroneously drive forecasts and/or investment decisions," he said. "In the case of Homefront, it is clear that the investment community did not take into account all the factors including the strong preorders and pre-release awareness that existed among consumers for the title. ... The reality is that numerous factors exist that can impact the overall sales performance for a title," he continued.