ENROUTE AND THQ SIGN LICENSING DEAL

Palo Alto-based Enroute described FirstPerson as “entirely new immersive viewing experience that places the user in the center of the action and gives them the full freedom over where to look and what to watch as a recorded event unfolds on a 360- degree wrap-around landscape.” Technology is being used in THQ’s upcoming Britney Spears videogame for PlayStation 2 (PS2). As part of agreement -- terms were unavailable by our Mon. deadline -- THQ is using Enroute’s technology, production services, camera systems and FirstPerson-formatted content in game.

Technology was demonstrated at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in L.A. in May using live video footage of Britney Spears concert and company said it wanted to use technology in game projects for PS2. But no game publishers had signed deal with company at that time. Company said it selected PS2 as first platform to use technology because of console’s growing installed base.

Enroute Exec. Vp Paul Cha, who founded company in 1996 with Chief Technology Officer Leo Blume, told us in May: “The first titles containing FirstPerson content will be delivered to the retail channel in early 2002.” Cha said company was looking to transform what had largely been “passive” experience -- watching concert video, for instance -- into “active” one for consumers. As to why company picked Spears as first musical performer, he said Enroute tried to find biggest star it could to introduce technology to consumers.

In future, Cha said, Enroute was hoping that its technology could be used for wide range of different titles and types of musical acts, including ones for consumers older than Spears’s typical fans, who seemingly were not exactly in line with PS2’s current target audience. He said technology also could be used for PCs and in GameCube and Xbox, and called technology “very agnostic.” But he had said in May it had reached no deals yet with Microsoft or Nintendo to achieve that. It was unclear at our deadline whether that still was case. Cha had said in May he couldn’t be sure GameCube and Xbox would make sense for Enroute on economic level. That could only happen, he said, if enough of those console systems sold. Twenty million units shipped through, he said, would be “feasible” level. In future, company is hoping that programs can be broadcast via satellite or on pay- per-view basis using same immersive technology, Cha told us in May.

Meanwhile, THQ received $16 million in additional proceeds from exercise of its underwriters’ overallotment option of 314,000 shares from recently announced public offering, game maker said Mon. Company said funds raised from offering -- $156 million to date -- would be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures, product development, joint ventures, strategic acquisitions.

THQ CEO Brian Farrell said company was “very pleased with the success of our secondary stock offering and believe THQ is extremely well positioned to invest in the best game content available in the future. With respect to the current quarter and fiscal 2001, we remain confident in our previous earnings guidance based on strong sales this holiday season. We also look for a solid start to the new year with next quarter’s scheduled releases of WWF Raw and New Legends for Xbox, Sonic Advance and other… Sega brands for Game Boy Advance, Tetris Worlds for PlayStation 2, and our Britney Spears products.”