First week sales for the new WWE ’13 video game were around 250,000 units sold in the US. This is down slightly from last year, but still considered a huge success, since 20% of retail stores where the game was sold were closed that week due to Hurricane Sandy.
The game did another 57,000 units in the UK during the first week.
As previously noted, pre-orders for the game were through the roof, with the Attitude Era tie-in seen as the main selling point there.
WWE ’13 was a distant #2 in sales during its first week behind Assassins Creed, which sold around 1.6 million that week.
WWE’s video game publisher, THQ, remains in grave danger and could be sold in the next year. Despite the fact that THQ generates around $30-40 million per year off the WWE games (and more than $40 million from the Saints Row games), the company has very little cash on hand and a $100 million loan that is due next summer.
If THQ cannot find an investor to keep them afloat, the company will have to liquidate and the profitable WWE franchise would end up with another publisher, possibly Electronic Arts.
(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)