Earlier this week the word went out on the Internet that THQ was shutting down development studios and laying off workers. Today the publisher confirmed the bad news, saying it recorded a loss of $115.3 million for the fiscal quarter that ended Sept. 30. This compares to a loss of just $7 million for the same period a year ago. THQ had revenues of $164.8 million for the quarter compared to revenues of $229.3 million for the same period a year ago.

THQ's press release admits that it will shut down five of its internal development studios. While not named in the press release they are Paradigm Entertainment, Mass Media, Helixe, Locomotive, and Sandblast Games. 250 people, which is about 17 percent of THQ's work force, will be laid off as a result of the cutbacks. Several unannounced games in development have also been cancelled.

In addition, two of THQ's upcoming games have been pushed back from the first quarter of 2009 to sometime in the company's 2010 fiscal year (which begins on April `1, 2009). One of these games is Red Faction: Guerrilla, the upcoming sci-fi shooter from developer Volition