Atari just revealed "the implementation of its corporate action plan." As part of the company's restructuring, it intends to reduce its worldwide workforce by about 20 percent.

"Today's decisive action will provide us with the flexibility necessary in a changing business environment," said Bruno Bonnell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Adjusting our cost structure is a significant first step and demonstrates our commitment to restoring shareholder value."



Original story:

Having just posted another net loss while revealing that its credit line had been cut and that CFO Diane Baker had resigned, beleaguered publisher Atari is determined to turn the company around. According to the U.K.-based MCV, Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell has announced a strategy that will hopefully put the operation back on the right track.

According to Bonnell, Atari intends to restructure itself by selling off certain intellectual property as well as several of its studios. Furthermore, a number of U.S. staff are likely to be laid off.

"Ahead of all this, we had decided in December that we should refocus our creativity efforts on external studios, rather than internal development," Bonnell explained. "We will be looking to sell our studios, but that doesn't mean that we're immediately putting a 'For Sale' sign on them. They still have important projects to finish for us."

He continued, ""We have about 250 staff in the U.S. And that is too many. There has to be some adjustment. There will be none in Europe, though. They've had their pain already."

So which studios does Bonnell plan to put on the market? The list appears to include some of the publisher's best:

  • Reflections—based in Newcastle, currently working on Driver 4.

  • Melbourne House—based in Australia, working on current-gen versions of Test Drive

  • Paradigm—based in Dallas, currently working on Stuntman 2 and Battlezone

  • Shiny Studios—based in Laguna Beach, working on one undisclosed project and new versions of Earthworm Jim

  • Eden Studios—based in Lyon, working on Test Drive for next generation platforms