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Atari Profits Down, Closing Two Studios

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-got-to-sting dept.

Gamespot has the word that Atari has reported a drop in profits for the third quarter. Earnings were down roughly $30 million compared to the same period last year. As a result, they are closing the company's Santa Monica and Beverly, MA studios. From the article: "In an e-mail sent to employees shortly before today's earnings call with analysts, new Atari CEO and president Jim Capparro outlined his plan to 'move Marketing and the coordination of Product Development and Production to New York, where those functions will be in close proximity to our center of operations.'"

2 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. New York??! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    First, it would really help if their center of operations WASN'T in New York. The rent there alone (and salary requirements for employees due to the high rents) makes it hard to run a company in the black!

  2. Not Atari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This is just some new company that had the name Atari stuck on it after the trademarks were bought (and the logo stuck randomly on games this new company had nothing to do with creating or distributing).

    This is basically an abuse of consumer trust and loyalty. They're hoping to appeal to people familiar with the Atari brand name but ignorant of the original company's demise, or its million successors. Because it was the first video game company, the name still has resonance -- despite being used for this tactic repeatedly. But if this keeps up, the name Atari won't mean anything soon.