After all the good news coming from publishers posting record profits, as reported here on Gamesdog, last Friday saw a big drop on share prices following new shipping forecasts from Microsoft.

Microsoft's announced that it’s going to cut shipments of the Xbox 360 from between 13 and 15 million, to 12 million units leading to a share price crisis for four top publishers.

Electronic Arts, Activision, THQ and Take Two have all supported the Xbox 360 with a range of high-profile titles, some of which are exclusive to the console, but have taken a Wall Street battering following the news.

THQ really felt it with shares falling 4% to US $30.48. Take Two saw shares drop 2.3%, or 40 cents, to US $16.84.

Shares in Electronic Arts were down 1.7%, to US $48.04, while Activision's stock fell 2.3% to US $16.71 on Nasdaq.

American Technology Research analyst PJ McNealy highlighted concern over revised results from hardware manufacturers, and the pressure it puts on the supporting publishers.

"Videogame publishers will be under pressure today after Microsoft cut its life-to-date shipment", he said.

"There is investor concern about a re-set of expectations around both the Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3", he finished.

>> Read - Activision joins the record club
>> Read - Software sales continue to climb
>> Link - Official Site/Take Two
>> Link - Official Site/THQ
>> Link - Official Site/EA