Atari Posts Reduced Loss For First Quarter 2007

Veteran game publisher Atari, itself a subsidiary of French publisher Infogrames, has announced its financial results for the fiscal 2007 first quarter ended June 30, 2006, showcasing reduced revenue but a reduced loss thanks to its recent IP sales. Net revenue for the period was $19.5 million, compared to $23.9 million in the same period the prior year. Net revenue derived from publishing efforts was $9.8 million, down from the previous year's $12.4 million, while distribution revenue fell from last year's $11.5 to $9.7 million for the quarter. The company posted a net loss of $7.1 million for the period, up substantially from the $32.8 million loss over the same period a year ago, and helped by recent substantial IP divestitures. "We previously announced plans to streamline our portfolio of titles and our operations,” commented Bruno Bonnell, Atari's chairman, CEO and chief creative officer. “Since those announcements, we have divested ourselves of Timeshift, Stuntman, Driver, and our Reflections studio, raising approximately $37.0 million for investment in our future.” The company also recently sold its Games.com casual game site, and Texas-based studio Paradigm Entertainment He added: “Further, we are starting to see the results from our previously announced cost savings initiatives as we have reduced general and administrative expenses by 32% in our fiscal 2007 first quarter as compared to the prior year's first quarter." Bonnell also noted that the company is continuing to execute on its previously announced strategy, which involves the marketing of games with "mass market appeal". He continued by stating that Atari remains focused on “improving profitability, releasing high quality product such as Test Drive Unlimited for Xbox 360." Atari's product lineup for the remainder of fiscal 2007 is expected to be made up of several releases, including Arthur and the Invisibles for the PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS, GBA, and PC; Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 for the PlayStation 2 and Wii; Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics for the PSP; Earthworm Jim for the PSP; Hot Pxl for the PSP; Neverwinter Nights 2 for the PC; Super DBZ for the PlayStation 2; and Test Drive Unlimited for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and PSP. Interestingly, the previously announced Alone in the Dark, a next-generation title in development by Eden for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, was not specifically stated in the list of titles expected to be released during fiscal 2007. In addition, the company announced today that it has entered into an on-going co-publishing relationship between it and Japanese publisher AQ Interactive, which includes the release of the Xbox 360 action title Bullet Witch in fiscal 2007.