Atari announces layoffs

Company to cut staff numbers by 20 percent, mainly in admin.

Publisher Atari will soon be cutting its workforce by a total of 20 percent, including approximately 26 percent of its administration employees.

The move, to be completed by the end of July, comes after the departure of former Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell from all his positions at parent company Infrogrames in April and his replacement by Patrick Leleu. The redundancy plan was approved at the board of directors meeting on April 10 and is expected to incur restructuring charges during fiscal year 2008 of between $800,000 and $1.1 million.

Atari's CEO and president, David Pierce, commented, "We expect that today's reorganization will continue to reduce Atari's general and administrative cost. These actions, though difficult, are a significant first step in reorganizing Atari and demonstrate our commitment to restoring shareholder value."

81 Comments

  • encognito27

    Posted May 3, 2007 10:06 am PT

    Heres a link to the petition being sent to M$ and EPIC to make the GOW maps free.
    http://www.petitiononline.com/gowmp/petition.html

  • shaane

    Posted May 3, 2007 12:18 am PT

    the company didnt made a good game for long

  • kavadias1981

    Posted May 2, 2007 11:09 pm PT

    Ouch

  • LinkErdrich

    Posted May 2, 2007 11:03 pm PT

    Atari's been laying folks off since 1983

  • smoothn00dle

    Posted May 2, 2007 9:12 pm PT

    @7thRonin

    Thanks to Howard Stringer. Sony

  • vaejas

    Posted May 2, 2007 7:07 pm PT

    And that door just keeps on spinning...

  • 7thRonin

    Posted May 2, 2007 6:59 pm PT

    well looks like not only sony is laying off people at the moment

  • R3DN1N3

    Posted May 2, 2007 4:40 pm PT

    Kinda scary if u think about it. I want to go into character design and or level design artist in the film or gaming biz but all this talk is giving me doubt about job security....Well, I'm already too commited in my major....hope I can get into a secure company although I have to admit, it doesn't seem very likely.

  • Selfdestruct9

    Posted May 2, 2007 4:10 pm PT

    Poor Atari :s

  • ScreamDream

    Posted May 2, 2007 3:28 pm PT

    When are you going to redo an old classic and update for the new generation.

  • AL13NK1LL3R

    Posted May 2, 2007 3:09 pm PT

    come on.. just sell your company

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted May 2, 2007 2:57 pm PT

    The fall of Atari continues!

  • Diablo2343

    Posted May 2, 2007 2:48 pm PT

    What was the last game they put out?

  • BigDaveyDogz

    Posted May 2, 2007 2:45 pm PT

    I'm sure the people who were let go will have no problem finding a new home for a different company.

  • chungkinem

    Posted May 2, 2007 2:43 pm PT

    atari? they still existed?

  • DontEatCream

    Posted May 2, 2007 2:41 pm PT

    Damn! 20%? That's like, more than...19%! Holy ****!

  • comthitnuong

    Posted May 2, 2007 2:17 pm PT

    Atari hasn't really been doing too well so it is not too surprising.

  • Makhdoom82

    Posted May 2, 2007 2:04 pm PT

    I think this Atari Org. is badly cursed man ..... they never prosper .... almost everything they do ends in them being a big failure .... They should consider SACRIFICE like Mayans did for prosperity !!!

  • Pete5506

    Posted May 2, 2007 1:55 pm PT

    dang more layoffs in the news

  • jimbo102671

    Posted May 2, 2007 1:51 pm PT

    Somehow, it seems like Atari's fall has been going on for nearly 25 years, as in starting shortly after Bushnell sold the company to Time Warner.

    Typical coporate world: Buy out a once-great name and continually run it into the ground. This kind of thing ticks me off to no end, especially when Atari made games such as Asteroids and Centipede that have stood the test of time.

    Infrogames need to put Atari's power back to people who know how to make and promote video games. (I know that won't happen anytime soon, but it may be what it will take to put some shine back into the Atari name.)

  • DoctorFu

    Posted May 2, 2007 1:24 pm PT

    When was the last good Atari game?

    I remember Driv3r.. Remember the jumping in that game? Hilarious.

  • holyultima

    Posted May 2, 2007 1:09 pm PT

    Yup, just like how Microsoft negatively makes shoddy hardware.

  • slayer1090

    Posted May 2, 2007 1:07 pm PT

    Atari is just like Sony, whenever there is a news story its always negative haha!

    ROFLMAO!!! that's so funny and true

  • TheMetroidMan

    Posted May 2, 2007 12:42 pm PT

    Atari is just like Sony, whenever there is a news story its always negative haha!

  • Captainintendo

    Posted May 2, 2007 12:36 pm PT

    "Atari should merge with Sega and then show the game industry how to really make a console to end this idiotic console war between Sony and Microsoft."

    I think thats why we have Nintendo

  • ObiKKa

    Posted May 2, 2007 12:31 pm PT

    I'd read that Atari's shareholders got happy when the ex-CEO Bruno Bonnell exited Atari, and the share price therefore improved. This was just part of Atari's whole plan for the future, and this news is just another part of the puzzle, so it can only be seen as modestly positive for Atari. Though, I hope that doesn't mean that their Q/A testers haven't been partially laid off - Atari really needs them! I'd remembered many months ago that their share price was at a terrible sub-$1 per stock, but since then I'd seen it above $3 or something, I think.

  • smbius

    Posted May 2, 2007 12:17 pm PT

    Kounji, Their weak portfolio along with their habit of abusing movie/anime licenses and lack of proper game development are the problems that are not being addressed in their company. I agree with the fact that their marketing was lacking on some of their go-to games (i.e. NW2) but, as you said, their Time-To-Market and bottom line seems to outweigh Quality of Product. Take a look at their current lineup. They have tarnished many licenses (i.e. DBZ, Test Drive, Terminator, Matrix, etc.) and released mostly mediocre/crap games:

    http://www.atari.com/us/product/a-f?showall=1

  • nemes1s3000

    Posted May 2, 2007 12:16 pm PT

    Another plus sign for working in the gaming industry, where people had absolutely no idea on how to manage their financing issues. 26 percent is a huge number, what a shame.

  • MaximusDM

    Posted May 2, 2007 11:59 am PT

    Atari should merge with Sega and then show the game industry how to really make a console to end this idiotic console war between Sony and Microsoft.

  • shivadee

    Posted May 2, 2007 11:54 am PT

    its ATARI.....cmon. They are so arrogant, they think they know so much, they try to bully their small companies that come to them for funded releases and they have a horrible track record. This was expected. A manager needs to go in there and turn their demographic inside out and upside down.

  • m_machine024

    Posted May 2, 2007 11:50 am PT

    Horrible. Sucks for the just unemployed people.

  • EMZayas

    Posted May 2, 2007 11:46 am PT

    This is ridiculous. If they're low on money, then why did they add a new member to the board of directors? I forgot his name, but he's also the president of "Atari Europe". What's the point if they're gonna fire people? If Infogrames does sell Atari, I hope it gets bought by either Activision(they are the last remnant of the original Atari) or by the man himself, Nolan Bushnell, founder.

  • Kounji

    Posted May 2, 2007 11:34 am PT

    I forgot to add they maybe the also need to work perhaps on not shipping out games before they are ready. THat doesn't mean that they should take however much time is needed. What atari needs to do is come up with realistic schedules for game development. If that means that for instance the neverwinter nights 2 expansion gets delayed past christmas then they should allow for that. People will buy a product if its not only appealing but if it receives great word of mouth. Bad word of mouth will destroy any traction a game might receive; That's true for any product. They need to also work on marketing for their products as well. I didn't remember seeing a lot of marketing going towards neverwinter nights 2, I knew of it only because I'm a fan of the previous game, but it didn't really carry on well. I think it sold okay from what I read but probably not as well as it could of. There was also a great deal of people who played the original who fail to come out and buy neverwinter nights 2 due to the fact there were quite a few bugs, and interface problems that were in the game upon release. ( not to say neverwinter nights 1 didn't have problems). That's an example where bad word of mouth can harm a products reputation even amongst users who should be a shoe-in for your product.

    I've been ranting a lot today. Its mostly cause the Atari nam e( even if it only exists in name) Is synonymus with gaming roots and pioneership in the gaming industry, and to see them rushing product out the door and not fully exploring their options as far as product support and development is just a tarnish to the name.

  • mixhawkeye

    Posted May 2, 2007 11:32 am PT

    WoW! 20%?!?!? Who's getting a pay raise...cmoonn now?!?

  • Kounji

    Posted May 2, 2007 11:15 am PT

    20 percent is a really huge reduction in work force. That means that they are really going be tightening their wallet. This is just another sign that the industry probably has way too many publishers and developers out there to really sustain its self I think. It also could be a sign that atari has failed to find a consistent major revenue producing hit amongst its many developers. I would hope now that they work on really producing a portfolio that really can provide hits in the future instead of limited successes. They have a lot of licensed properties perhaps such as the D&D license they need to come up with some better properties besides D&D Online and Neverwinter Nights that really take advantage of the license. It would be excellent if they could perhaps see about producing games for other table top cames that have large installed bases already, such as perhaps white wolfs games or perhaps going after some of WOTC's other properites like D20 modern. They could also see about maybe trying to gain some other existing ips from other companies, or maybe even looking towards perhaps Dark Horse, Or Image comics for some more ideas. What ever they ultimately do it would, coming out with some must have title's would go a long way towards making atari viable.

  • smbius

    Posted May 2, 2007 10:37 am PT

    This is no suprise.

  • r4v3gl0ry

    Posted May 2, 2007 10:35 am PT

    Sucks for the workforce...

  • mr_ackman

    Posted May 2, 2007 10:25 am PT

  • bossjimbob

    Posted May 2, 2007 10:21 am PT

    It is Atari in name only. Actually, the company is Infogrames--a French company (and they've done a poor job in making and marketing hit games, with or without the acquired Atari name).

  • Enterprise-E

    Posted May 2, 2007 10:08 am PT

    Well i can't say i didn't see this one coming.

  • Kounji

    Posted May 2, 2007 9:56 am PT

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  • importguy

    Posted May 2, 2007 9:49 am PT

    Sad to see one of the pioneers go down like this. I was saddened to see Sega stop consoles and now this.

  • Tranceplant

    Posted May 2, 2007 9:46 am PT

    Whatever the company is... it always sucks to see people in the gaming business to lose their jobs. I thought the business needed more jobs...

  • icym

    Posted May 2, 2007 9:44 am PT

    Probably good for the development side of Atari, every company in any business has too many middle men thinking they know whats best for games. Thats probably why Atari hasn't done too much we've heard of recently. Hopefully after this round of layoffs we will soon...

  • StylinLancer

    Posted May 2, 2007 9:34 am PT

    I'm sad to see this. I think before too long Atari won't be around but I hope they continue to stay strong.

  • cobrax80

    Posted May 2, 2007 9:28 am PT

    Atari has lasted a long time.

  • DS_fan_atic

    Posted May 2, 2007 9:22 am PT

    Oh how the mighty have fallen

  • SemiMaster

    Posted May 2, 2007 9:09 am PT

    Atari still exists? Sucks that people lost their jobs though, although I can understand cuts in administration if they are excessive positions.

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