Despite mounting losses and the need to cut nearly a quarter of THQ's total workforce, CEO Brian Farrell isn't ready to give in to detractors, categorizing talk of bankruptcy as gossip.

Speaking to the L.A. Business Journal, Farrell said, “I know that makes for good print and sells newspapers, but those aren’t the kind of things we focus on right now.

“When the stock price is depressed, the naysayers can have their day in the sunshine. But we have a plan that we’re very confident will give us cash and return the company to profitability.”

That plan includes cutting 600 employees from THQ's global workforce and reducing planned fiscal 2010 spending by $220 million total. Losses for the December quarter mounted to $191.8 million.

Farrell aims to bring THQ into profitability next year by focusing on fewer, better products. Analyst Mike Hickey with Janco Partners put THQ's chances of going bankrupt at an even 50-50.

The chief exec last week presented at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, where he said underperforming products in the hardcore and kids' markets negated headway made by strong-selling products such as Saints Row 2.

At the time, Farrell said the company needs to "nail the quality, the timing, the marketing buzz, the presence at retail. If you do those things right, you win. We know that, we've done it, we just have to do it consistently on a more select number of titles."