NEWS - Thursday, February 10, 2005
Atari Sees Q3 Numbers Fall
Atari Sees Q3 Numbers Fall February 9, 2005 - In its third quarter 2005 financials, Atari today reported falling revenues and the closure of its Santa Monica and Beverly, MA studios. Atari reports net revenue of $161.8 million for its third quarter ended December 31, 2004, compared to $190.6 million in the same period last year. The company attributes the 15% decrease in revenue to a diminished number of titles released, strong competition, and console hardware shortages. For the nine-month period ended December 31, 2004, Atari saw net revenue of $343.4 million compared to $402.5 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2004. In its fourth quarter, Atari now expects a loss ranging between breakeven and $80 million. The company's challenging financial situation has prompted an extensive reassessment of resources and priorities, which led to the closure of the two studios today. Along with structural changes, the company has moved Dragonshard and Boiling Point into fiscal 2006, which begins this April, in order to "maximize each title's revenue potential." Atari highlighted its roster of upcoming titles: For Q4 (ending March 31, 2005): Act of War: Direct Action (PC), Backyard Baseball 2006 (GBA), Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (PS2, Xbox and GameCube), DRIV3R (PC), and Retro Atari Classics (DS). For fiscal 2006: Pirates! (Xbox), Boiling Point (PC), Dragon Ball GT: Transformation (GBA), Dragonshard (PC), Dungeons & Dragons Online (PC), Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (PS2), Roller Coaster Tycoon 3: Soaked (PC), Timeshift (PC, Xbox), Tycoon City: New York (PC) among others. Atari's new president and CEO Jim Caparro commented on the months and year ahead. "We are extremely optimistic about Atari's future, while also being realistic about the challenges that lay ahead," he said. "We've begun to evaluate and execute several strategic initiatives that mark the first steps towards simplifying Atari's global operations. Additionally, we believe there is enormous potential to unlock and create added value between Atari and its majority shareholder, Infogrames Entertainment, SA."Source: http://www.ign.com
