James Caparro Appointed CEO of Atari Inc.

In a statement made by Infogrames chairman and chief creative officer, Bruno Bonnell, it has been announced that industry veteran and long-time Atari board of directors member, James Caparro, has been appointed to the position of President and CEO of Atari, Inc. Amid investor concerns over Infogrames' long-term debt situation, the appointment will see Mr. Caparro assuming the responsibilities previously held by Mr. Bonnell, and taking control of the executive management of Atari's global operations. Bonnell himself commented: "With Jim taking over as CEO, we strengthen Atari's present and future. As he runs our operations on a day-to-day basis, I will be able to focus my time and energies on our long-term creative opportunities in terms of both content and delivery. The next several years will bring extraordinary changes to our industry and this move insures that Atari will be a significant force both today and tomorrow." In recent weeks, parent company Infogrames has seen its debt in the forefront of the news, with the company showing a total net loss of €42.2 million ($56.0 million USD) in its most recent financial results, during which it announced the sale of the long-running Civilization strategy game franchise to un-named parties for $22.3 million USD.