Activision Inc. on Wednesday warned that its third-quarter, fourth-quarter and full-year earnings will be “significantly lower” than its most recent outlook due to slower sales of its most profitable titles.

The announcement was made after the market closed, and shares of the Santa Monica-based video game publisher were down as much as 14 percent to $12.27 in after-hours trading Wednesday.

The company did not say what its earnings would be, other than to say they’d be lower than expected. Analysts on average had expected third-quarter earnings of 53 cents a share; fourth-quarter earnings of 6 cents; and full-year earnings of 54 cents.

The third quarter ends Dec. 31. The company will report earnings in late January.

Activision said while a number of its products are outperforming the competition, overall the company’s portfolio is not selling as well as anticipated. Activision expects lower-than-expected reorders of its key titles. Activision is known for selling video games based on such movies as Spider-Man, X-Men and Shrek. The company expects its fourth quarter, which begins Jan. 1, also will be hurt by a continuation of the soft sales.

Activision blamed its lower outlook on decreased consumer demand for videogame hardware and software in the U.S. and Europe due to the introduction of new hardware and declines in consumer spending. For the October-November period, U.S. software sales were down 20 percent, Activision said, citing data from NPD FunWorld. December sales are also said to be tracking below company expectations. Activision said it was seeing similar trends in Europe.

“For the [third] quarter, we still expect to generate significant revenues; however, we are disappointed that our earnings performance will come in substantially below our previous outlook,” stated Michael Griffith, president and chief executive of Activision Publishing Inc.