Much was revealed during THQ's investor conference call yesterday. The company says sales picked up in January, mainly because of PS3/360 action game Darksiders. CEO Brian Farrell put it this way during the call: "Christmas came a bit late this year."

Darksiders sold 1.2 million copies, a number THQ must be very pleased with, especially considering how relatively crowded January was with big-budget game releases (Mass Effect 2, Bayonetta, MAG).

THQ also looked forward during the call, revealing some of its upcoming releases, including:

• A Darksiders sequel
• A new Saints Row game
• A new Red Faction game
• An Ultimate Fighting Championship Game
• An MMO based on Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe

They are all scheduled to be released during THQ's fiscal 2012 (which runs April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012), and the slate is subject to change.

All those big THQ games are awesome, but the company sees its future in online gaming as well. A new, online-only, free-to-play version of Company of Heroes is on tap, and an online WWE title is on the way too. THQ's studios Rainbow and Juice are switching to focus on downloadable content, and the company plans to open a new studio in Montreal, Canada.

In a sense, THQ's recent performance and plans for the future are a model of how a "middle-tier" game publishing company can survive and thrive. It's a little heavy on the well-worn franchises, but they generally throw enough new IPs in the mix to keep everything interesting. What do you think? Of all that was revealed with THQ, what are you the most excited about?

Source: Venture Beat