Atari to Sell Studios
The company makes a last-ditch effort to remain alive.
February 17, 2006 - In a move that industry analysts are calling a last-ditch effort to remain solvent, Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell announced that the company plans to divest the publisher's top five development studios, according to a report in industry trade journal MCV.
The decision to sell the studios comes amid financial turmoil at the publisher which posted a net loss of $5 million in the third quarter, saw the departure of Chief Financial Officer Diane Baker, and the loss of its line of credit from HSBC Bank.
According to Bonnell, the decision to sell the developer studios reflects a "refocus of [the company's] creativity efforts on external studios, rather than internal development."
Among Atari's studios are Reflections (currently working on Driver 4), Melbourne House (currently working on the Test Drive franchise for current generation consoles), Paradigm (currently working on Stuntman 2), Shiny Studios (currently working on an unannounced project), and Eden Studios (currently working on Test Drive for next-generation consoles).
In addition to the studio divestiture, Bonnell stated that company would reduce its North American staff while no layoffs are expected for European employees.
