Could the Atari name be heading to the grave again?
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/17/comm...ming/index.htm
Quote:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Things haven't been going well for Atari for quite some time now, but they've just taken a turn for the worse.
The publisher, once the premiere name in the gaming industry, reportedly plans to lay off a portion of its North American staff (which currently consists of 250 people) and plans to sell all of its internal studios. All of this comes as Atari's latest high profile release – "Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure" - earns less than stellar reviews from video game critics.
The internal studios on the block have worked on some of Atari's largest releases over the past few years, including the "Driver" and "Test Drive" franchises and games based on "The Matrix" films.
Speaking to industry trade publication MCV, Atari (Research) CEO Bruno Bonnell said "We will be looking to sell our studios, but that doesn't mean that we're immediately putting a 'For Sale' sign on them. They still have important projects to finish for us."
Bonnell is based in France. Calls to the company's U.S. corporate communications department were not returned. (Atari is owned by the French outfit Infogrames, but trades in the US under the Atari ticker symbol).
While Bonnell insists the sale of studios and staff reductions are a restructuring move, it's getting increasingly hard to convince onlookers. HSBC cut off the company's line of credit earlier this month. Harris Nesbitt and Wedbush Morgan both downgraded the publisher on Feb. 10. Meanwhile, Diane Baker, Atari's chief financial officer who last June famously said the company was shooting itself in the foot, resigned.
