Despite closing studios and laying off over 600 staff, THQ still couldn’t quite dig itself out of the financial hole for Q1 (its fiscal Q408). The game publisher posted a $96.9 million loss—an improvement from the previous quarter, but worse than the $34.5 million loss for the same quarter last year. Game sales were also down: THQ’s revenues came in at $170.3 million, down 9 percent year-over-year. (That didn’t stop rapper 50 Cent from telling MTV he wants to make a sequel to Blood on the Sand, the game he released with THQ this year).

The good news? Revenues actually beat the Street’s consensus of about $149 million, with Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter still rating the company’s stock a buy. It’s a vote of confidence for the massive restructuring THQ began last year, and the company said it had already reached its $220 million savings goal about a month ago.

THQ (NSDQ: THQI) also said it took out a $35 million secured credit facility from Bank of America. New CFO Paul Pucino said the financing would serve as a “prudent backup” to the company’s cash and short-term investment balance.

Release | Webcast

• Earnings: THQ’s Losses Grow; Revenues Miss Consensus; Gets New CFO
• THQ CEO: We Still Have Enough Developers To Make Good Games
• Huge Losses Mean More Studio Closures For THQ