SKY SPORTS, HOTGEN STUDIOS AND THQ ANNOUNCE ONLINE FOOTBALL MANAGEMENT GAME

Newly Formed Joint Venture Company to Publish Sky Sports Football Manager

CALABASAS HILLS, CA, July 2, 2001 - THQ (NASDAQ NMS: THQI) today announced Sky Sports Football Manager, an online football management game fully endorsed by Sky Sports to be published by newly formed joint venture company, Network Interactive Sports, Ltd (N.I. Sports). N.I. Sports was formed by HotGen Studios Ltd and THQ Inc. to develop and market multi-player sports games. Sky Sports Football Manager will enjoy marketing support through Sky Sports’ extensive network of web sites, publications and broadcast media.

Sky Sports Football Manager will be a subscription-based service. Versions of the game will be distributed both online and at retail. Sky Sports Football Manager will offer players the chance to manage their favorite English team complete with transfers, suspensions, injuries, promotions and accurate statistics on thousands of worldwide professional footballers. Online connectivity allows players to compete against other human and computer based managers through each season with the ultimate aim of becoming Sky Sports Football Manager of the Year.

The Sky Sports Football Manager program and the game statistics can be kept current through online updates. The game has also been specifically designed to exploit emerging wireless and digital technologies to expand players’ accessibility and gaming experience.

The service, which combines a stand-alone program running on a PC with an integrated website for content and community operations, will launch in the UK in August. Billing, customer care and online support will be managed by N.I. Sports, with Intel providing a fully managed hosting environment.

“This joint venture brings together some of the biggest names in sport, games publishing and game development,” said Fergus McGovern, Managing Director of HotGen Studios. "With Sky Sports' brand and marketing, THQ's publishing skills and HotGen's technical and design expertise, we have formed a winning team. The game is easy to use but still offers enormous depth of play, with a vibrant community of fans and players that team managers can join by simply pressing a button on a browser."

Bernard Dugdale, General Manager of N.I. Sports said “In the past, football management games have enjoyed tremendous success - but you have never played them like this before. Our players can choose their favorite team, whether it’s Manchester United or Exeter City. They play against other human players and against the computer - it’s a genuinely multi-user experience where players can use their skill, knowledge and management abilities to see how good they really are at managing their club.”

Tim Walsh, Senior Vice President of International Publishing, THQ said, “We are excited to participate in this cutting-edge football management experience. It represents a quantum leap in gameplay and gaming technology which simply translates into more excitement for football fans and a greater challenge for game players.”

Pre-registration for the game is located at www.nisports.com/prereg/ or at www.skysports.com

About NI Sports Network Interactive Sports Ltd is a joint-venture company formed by HotGen Studios Ltd and THQ Inc. to develop and commercialise multi-player sports games. NI Sports uses leading-edge client/server technology to offer ‘massively multi-player games’ (MMPG) to subscribers across a variety of platforms including PCs and WAP-enabled mobile phones. Future plans will extend this unique gaming experience to games consoles, interactive television and other internet-access devices. NI Sports’ first product is Sky Sports Football Manager. The NI Sports website is located at www.nisports.com.

About HotGen Studios HotGen Studios Ltd., designs, develops and programs interactive entertainment software for some of the world’s foremost entertainment brands and entertainment publishers. HotGen develops worldwide interactive entertainment for the most popular video game hardware platforms and digital networks of today and tomorrow including PC CD-ROM, wireless devices and those manufactured by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. The HotGen website is located at www.HotGen.com.

About THQ THQ Inc. develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software worldwide for a variety of hardware platforms including PC CD-ROM, wireless devices and those manufactured by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. The THQ website is located at www.thq.com.

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This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements due to numerous factors, including, but not limited to, those described above and the following: changes in demand for the Company's products, product mix, the timing of customer orders and deliveries, the impact of competitive products and pricing and difficulties encountered in the integration of acquired businesses. In addition, such statements could be affected by growth rates and market conditions relating to the interactive software industry and general domestic and international economic conditions. Specific information concerning these and other such factors is contained in the Company's most recent report on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities Exchange Commission on November 13, 2000. A copy of this filing may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

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