Video game makers are unlikely to set any high-score records starting Tuesday, when a trio of top industry players begin reporting their latest earnings.

On Tuesday, Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS), publisher of popular games like "Spore" and the "Madden" football franchise, is expected to report very conservative guidance for its current fiscal year, which ends in March, and the year after. It's also expected to report a modest third-quarter that reflects the Redwood City, Calif.-based company's relatively weak lineup of games, especially for Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OK) industry-leading Wii game console.

That's followed on Wednesday by THQ Inc. (THQI), whose third-quarter fiscal 2009 report is expected to show evidence that its top-selling games experienced a challenging holiday and its "Saints Row 2" game isn't living up to expectations. A week later, Activision-Blizzard Inc. (ATVI), seen as the game publisher best positioned for the downturn, is expected to report revenue slightly under its guidance of $1.6 billion.

The expected earnings, which follow a record year of sales for the industry, could further dent the widely held belief that video games are recession-proof. With the economy weaker than it's been in decades, consumers are buying fewer games than they have in the past and video game sales are falling faster than companies expected. Since Jan. 9, Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. (5447.FR) lowered its fiscal third quarter 2009 margins guidance by 1 to 2 percentage points because of rising costs. Meanwhile, Electronic Arts has warned it will come in under its revenue guidance.

On top of the overall slowdown, consumers appear to be taking fewer chances on new videogames, sticking instead to tried-and-true titles and franchises. That's creating a schism in the industry: The companies with hit titles and the companies without.

Titles that aren't in the top 10 are subject to deep discounting. Electronic Arts' Madden and NBA Live games can be had for 16%-to-33% below the retail suggested price of $59.99.

That's left Electronics Arts particularly vulnerable. While all the price-cutting is expected to goose its third fiscal quarter sales by as much as 10%, it's also expected to mute profit growth.

Electronic Arts on Tuesday is also expected to provide updated fiscal 2009 guidance and provide its first fiscal 2010 guidance. Investors are bracing for further revisions to its 2009 guidance. EA announced on Dec. 9 that it would significantly miss its current financial guidance of 33% to 41% revenue growth, and earnings per share loss of 21 cents to a profit of 7 cents a share.

On Wednesday, THQ is expected to report revenue slipped 20% to $405 million, and profit per share sunk to 8 cents, compared to a year ago's 24 cents a share, the result of a challenging holiday shopping season that saw many of its top tiles, including "Saints Row 2," fall below expectations.

Activision is expected to be best, but still shows signs of wear. It's likely to report a solid quarter based on strong sales of its "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" games, even though sales of its signature "Guitar Hero" have appeared to drop off significantly.

"The recession is having an impact on everybody," said Todd Greenwald, a video game analyst for Signal Hill Group. "Everyone is dealing with it."

-By Ben Charny; Dow Jones Newswires; 415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.