Following financial difficulties and cries from angry investors, Atari announced an exit from gaming production today and will focus solely on the distribution of games.
The press release stated that Atari will "re-focus its operations on publishing and distribution in North America, completing its withdrawal from the production business."
Considering that Atari has been selling off its development studios to alleviate its financial debts, it’s no surprise they’ll remove themselves from developing games. In case you forgot, Atari sold off Shiny Entertainment last year.
Now, Atari’s new business model "will involve title acquisition, sales and marketing and physical distribution of productions from [Infogrames] IESA, its 51% shareholder, and other selected partners." Unfortunately, looks like some jobs will be cut, too.
As part of Atari’s new operations, the company licensed its Test Drive franchise to parent company Infogrames under a six-year agreement. Eden Studios, developer of Test Drive Unlimited, currently has the rights to develop at least two new games in the series.
Atari’s CEO, David Pierce, resigned. Curtis G. Solsvig III, chief restructuring officer, has been appointed interim CEO for the time being. In regards to Atari’s future, Solsvig said that the ongoing changes are for the best.
"Atari continues to take important steps to stream-line operations and establish a winning business plan. We expect that the actions we are undertaking today will position us for the future as a preferred business and distribution partner."
[Via GameDaily]
