Vivendi Picks Up Timeshift From Atari

Officials from Vivendi Universal Games have confirmed, via a pre-E3 press showing, that time-bending PC and Xbox 360 first person shooter title Timeshift will now be published by VU Games, rather than original publishers Atari. Although representatives from Atari have not commented on the change, the game was initially scheduled for a May release by the company, but no longer appears on Atari’s schedules. Vivendi officials were unable to provide further details at time of press, indicating only that the game currently does not have a scheduled release date. Such a belated change in publisher is rare within the games industry, and usually only occurs when one or more parties are in financial difficulties, which does not appear to be the case with developer Saber Interactive, which is based in New York and Russia and previously created PC FPS Will Rock. The news will only add to speculation on Atari’s future, though, with the company continuing to be dogged by poor financial results, which have led to indications it will need to sell off many of its internal development studios, which include Shiny Entertainment, Melbourne House, and Paradigm, in order to continue as a going concern.