Atari Sells Humongous To Infogrames

Officials from Atari have announced that the U.S. publisher has sold developer Humongous Entertainment to its French parent company Infogrames for approximately $10.3 million, to give a cash boost to the U.S. company. The deal includes the developer’s intellectual properties, existing inventory and license rights. Approximately $2 million of the purchase price represents pre-payment of future costs Atari will incur related to platform royalty advances, manufacturing costs and milestone payments. Additionally, Atari has been granted exclusive distribution rights for Humongous products in the U.S., Canada and Mexico through at least March 31, 2006. "We continue to execute our previously articulated strategic initiatives and strengthen Atari's financial position moving forward," stated Bruno Bonnell, Chairman, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Atari. "As we streamline the operations of the company and focus on cost controls, we remain committed to developing unique high-quality titles that appeal to both mass-consumers as well as hard-core gamers. This transaction substantially contributes to our resources for the launch of our largest titles in the holiday season and further enhances our capacity to develop new titles, ultimately enhancing shareholder value." Atari had already announced in its fourth quarter results that it would “divest” the Seattle-based developer - best known for its range of children’s titles and the Backyard Sports series.