THQ Inc. late Wednesday reported a larger loss in its fiscal second quarter as the video game developer was hurt by a lack of new releases. The results were better than Wall Street expected.

After the markets closed, the Agoura Hills company, whose games series include “WWE SmackDown vs Raw” and “Saints Row,” reported a net loss of $47 million (-60 cents per share) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $5.6 million (-37 cents) a year earlier.

Revenue fell 23 percent to $77.1 million. Analysts on average were expecting a larger per-share loss of 61 cents on lower revenue of $66.4 million.

Chief Executive Brian Farrell was upbeat about the upcoming holiday season, with releases including a new “WWE” offering and the new uDraw GameTablet, a first-of-its-kind gaming accessory for the Wii platform.

“This holiday begins the consistent flow of quality products that we’ve been investing in over the past two years,” he said in a statement. “Our goal this fiscal year continues to be to position THQ for significant growth in fiscal 2012 and beyond, with high quality core games.”

Looking ahead, the company expects fiscal third-quarter net sales in the range of $300 million to $315 million and earnings per share in the range of 20 cents to 30 cents. Full year net sales are expected to be in the range of $825 million to $855 million and a loss per share in the range of 10 cents to 20 cents, excluding items.

Shares closed up 3 cents, or less than 1 percent, to $4.04 on the Nasdaq, but fell 2 percent in after-market trading.