Atari Going Down

Atari is a legendary name in the gaming world. Started by former programmers at Activision back in the 70s, it has had a very roller coaster ride history having changed more hands that most people can remember.

Most recently taken over by French "giant" Infogrames towards the beginning of the century, Atari seemed like it was back to being a name to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, Infogrames haven't really done much with the brand except acquire reputed developers and fold them into the Atari family.

Atari the corporation has recently been in the news for its sale of major studios to rival publishers in order to stay afloat financially. Of note are their sale of studios and franchises like Timeshift to Vivendi, Stuntman to THQ and in the last few weeks, Driver to Ubisoft.

Infogrames have a reputation for this starting with then they acquired GT Interactive and all it studios only to fold them. Some of the best known developers and publishers have been treated this way including Gremlin Interactive, Ocean Games, Reflections Interactive, etc.

Perhaps its time the shareholders of Infogrames reassessed the capabilities of Bruno Bonnell and his colleauges on the board of Atari.