• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Atari to offload their internal teams

M

monchi-kun

Member
www.next-gen.biz

Troubled Atari Selling Off Studios
By Colin Campbell
Atari says it's seeking to offload its five main development studios, in an effort to save the company from financial ruin.

ImageSpeaking to UK trade paper MCV, Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell said, "We have decided that we should refocus our creativity efforts on external studios rather than internal development. We will be looking to sell our studios, but that does not mean we're immediately putting a 'for sale' sign on them. They still have important projects to finish for us."

The studios include England-based Reflections, Melbourne House in Australia, Dallas-based Paradigm, Shiny Studios in California and France-based Eden.

Bonnell also confirmed that there would be job-cuts in the U.S. "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 have been through that pain already."


But despite the pain, Bonnell is in defiant mood. "People love the drama of speculating about Atari. But they should think of us as heroes. Our teams have done an incredible job in difficult times."

-----------------
After this kind of statement what motivation do they think their devs will have to give their BEST? At least with EA they told their devs that their jobs were safe until the very last minute.
 
bruno_bonnell_large.jpg


VERSUS

michael_chiklis_d.jpg



FIGHT!!!!
 
sonycowboy said:
Note to Sony: Buy Melbourne House.
Click to expand...

That's definetly someone they should target. A company that good shouldn't be ignored for as long as they have due to Atari's (and Infogrames) bad marketing
 
monchi-kun said:
But despite the pain, Bonnell is in defiant mood. "People love the drama of speculating about Atari. But they should think of us as heroes. Our teams have done an incredible job in difficult times."
Click to expand...

It's over for Atari and this statement is simply delusional. Bonnell has been playing a shell game with Atari and Infogrames for years and the game is almost up.

All of the studios will be a tough sell for various reasons though Melbourne House will likely be the easiest.
 
MassiveAttack said:
All of the studios will be a tough sell for various reasons though Melbourne House will likely be the easiest.
Click to expand...

Reflections and Eden are both worth buying i'd think. Other than Melbourne which is likely the top target. Paradigm did the awesome Beetle Adventure Racing. But that was a long time ago and they suck now.
 
Hopefully these studios find a good home or have enough to go independent. Otherwise the talent will simply scatter and that's never a good thing, especially for teams that have worked together for years.
 
Dallas-based Paradigm should be an interesting target.

-Pilot Wings 64
-Pilot Wings 64: II (never finished)
-Beetle Adventure Racing
-Spy Hunter

Though they aren't exactly the greatest developer, they do employ some very high caliber talent.

Maybe with Factor 5 a PS3 exclusive developer and development on Pilot Wings for the GameCube terminated (if rumors of Factor 5 development are true), then perhaps Paradigm could pick the franchise back up for Revolution? :)
 
monchi-kun said:
The studios include England-based Reflections, Melbourne House in Australia, Dallas-based Paradigm, Shiny Studios in California and France-based Eden.
Click to expand...

You know what to do SCEE. (Hint hint, bring back Destruction Derby pleeeeasse?)
 
sonycowboy said:
Note to Sony: Buy Melbourne House.
Click to expand...
They haven't done anything good for a long time.

But go Aussie development go! Team Bondi will hopefully prove to be something special for the scene in general.
 
Striek said:
They haven't done anything good for a long time.

But go Aussie development go! Team Bondi will hopefully prove to be something special for the scene in general.
Click to expand...

TRANSFORMERS was technically one of the most impressive PS2 games I've seen and I'm dead serious about that. It was gorgeous and it was a relatively low budget game. I knew it wouldn't sell well, but it desevered better.
 
Dallas-based Paradigm should be an interesting target.

-Pilot Wings 64
-Pilot Wings 64: II (never finished)
-Beetle Adventure Racing
-Spy Hunter

Though they aren't exactly the greatest developer, they do employ some very high caliber talent.
Click to expand...

Paradigm's churned through a fair amount of staff the past couple of years after insane schedules on the likes of Mission Impossible & Terminator Redemption.
 
sonycowboy said:
Note to Sony: Buy Melbourne House.
Click to expand...
Heh, that's exactly what I was going to say.

Somebody should definitely pick them up. They are some seriously talented motherfuckers, and get nearly zero respect for it.
 
monchi-kun said:
After this kind of statement what motivation do they think their devs will have to give their BEST? At least with EA they told their devs that their jobs were safe until the very last minute.
Click to expand...

Well, at least it works in favour of the employees. One small company I worked for forced me along with the rest of the staff to complete a project a week ahead of the actual project deadline. We were asked to work overtime, and any complaints about the hectic schedule were met with promises that the hard work would be well rewarded. So the project was completed on the Friday, a week ahead of schedule.

On Monday the following week, the company fired everyone, and cited financial difficulties as the reason for this action. All personal belongings had already been collected and boxed up for the employees, and the company denied the employees access to workstations, meaning everyone was left without a current portfolio. The company had obviously know about this for some time, and wanted to squeeze the last pennies out of a dying company at the expense of their employees.
 
AltogetherAndrews said:
Well, at least it works in favour of the employees. One small company I worked for forced me along with the rest of the staff to complete a project a week ahead of the actual project deadline. We were asked to work overtime, and any complaints about the hectic schedule were met with promises that the hard work would be well rewarded. So the project was completed on the Friday, a week ahead of schedule.

On Monday the following week, the company fired everyone, and cited financial difficulties as the reason for this action. All personal belongings had already been collected and boxed up for the employees, and the company denied the employees access to workstations, meaning everyone was left without a current portfolio. The company had obviously know about this for some time, and wanted to squeeze the last pennies out of a dying company at the expense of their employees.
Click to expand...


Sounds like Glen Cove...
 
Dezcom said:
You know what to do SCEE. (Hint hint, bring back Destruction Derby pleeeeasse?)
Click to expand...


That would be awesome, the PS2 version sucked hard and it's a good thing the developer (Studio 33) who made the game for Sony was bought by EA, I can't see Reflections working on a future DD game though. But if Sony can get them on the cheap, who knows - it may actually happen.
rockout0hc.gif


The second DD game is still the best banger racer.
 
Wax Free Vanilla said:
That would be awesome, the PS2 version sucked hard and it's a good thing the developer (Studio 33) who made the game for Sony was bought by EA, I can't see Reflections working on a future DD game though. But if Sony can get them on the cheap, who knows - it may actually happen.
rockout0hc.gif


The second DD game is still the best banger racer.
Click to expand...

Hell yeah. There really needs to be a decent DD-style game. In its day, DD2 was killer.
 
Anybody think Microsoft or Nintendo is going to make some moves here?

I know there isn't much of the "old" Paradigm left, but Nintendo NEEDS more ammunition for their magic wand box, and hey, those dudes who did Piliotwings is on sale? And they could shift the staff over the Retro pretty easy.
Out of those, I'd say Melbourne House is the first one any publshier should go after, but what do I know?
 
Atari would do well to get rid of some of those rather expensive yet completely worthless licenses they currently have.
 
HyperZone<3 said:
I know there isn't much of the "old" Paradigm left, but Nintendo NEEDS more ammunition for their magic wand box, and hey, those dudes who did Piliotwings is on sale? And they could shift the staff over the Retro pretty easy.
Click to expand...
Other than gobbling up Retro totally, though, in the last few years Nintendo has moved away from owning companies, and towards just working with them as third parties.
 
Melbourne House under Microsoft's wing,making racers for XBox Live...oh dear Lord...please let this happen.@@

550f.jpg


We as DreamCast fans shall never forget the greatness that Melbourne House gave us. I think this was probably the first console racer (this gen. anyways) that held 20-22 cars on a track during a race. As a matter of fact to this day very few racers hold this many cars within a race. This one did so and without having the all too typical rubberband and annoying type shit a.i. drivers. It also looked fucking amazing for its time,and played pretty damn well.

Melbourne House on Live,with a new RallySport Game...sure would be nice.

Btw-they also made a F1 game for the PS2 a few years back I believe? I never got around to picking it up,hell the name even escapes me now. I remember trying out the game at an EB and the game had some rather twitchy steering,though it was probably me since I'm not the greatest when it comes to F1 :lol

Anyone remember its name?
 
JoshuaJSlone said:
Other than gobbling up Retro totally, though, in the last few years Nintendo has moved away from owning companies, and towards just working with them as third parties.
Click to expand...


Futhermore Nintendo has never really liked buying out other firms, still a bit shocked that they made Retro a 1st party.
 
Anyway, first party contenders aside, who in the third party sector would end up buying some of these developers on the chopping block?
 
Shard said:
Anyway, first party contenders aside, who in the third party sector would end up buying some of these developers on the chopping block?
Click to expand...

Vivendi, Ubi, maybe THQ.
 
AP
Atari to Lay Off 20 Percent of Worforce
Friday February 17, 4:36 pm ET

Atari Plans to Reduce Workforce by About 20 Percent Worldwide As Part of Restructuring Plan

NEW YORK (AP) -- Computer and video game maker Atari Inc. said it plans to cut its workforce by about 20 percent worldwide as part of its restructuring plan.

In 2005, the company had about 490 employees. Atari said the move is part of its plans to control costs, dispose of non-core assets and place a stronger emphasis on external development studios.

"Today's decisive action will provide us with the flexibility necessary in a changing business environment," said Bruno Bonnell, chairman and chief executive, in a statement.

Shares jumped 6 cents, or 7 percent, to 92 cents in after-hours trading after closing at 86 cents on the Nasdaq.
 
MassiveAttack said:
Shares jumped 6 cents, or 7 percent, to 92 cents in after-hours trading after closing at 86 cents on the Nasdaq.
Click to expand...

that 6 cents-per-share = an employee who got or will be getting a pink slip
 
Some classic Melbourne House games.

The Way of the Exploding Fist
Krush Kill 'n' Destroy (KKND)
KKND2: Krossfire.
Test Drive: Lemans
Grand Prix Challenge
Transformers: Armada
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Atari Acquires Rights to the Legendary Wizardry RPGs
0
98
falconhoof replied
Part of Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja to be transferred to Atelier studio Gust in upcoming internal reshuffling
News 
17
301
Ceallach replied
Atari acquires Implicit Conversions emulation studio that takes classic games to new platforms
13
380
awwr999999 replied
Atari teases big announcement tomorrow
2
69
2K
ReBurn replied
The Rebirth of Atari, how the old giant has rebuilt itself during the 2020s
Opinion 
25
251
IbizaPocholo replied
Top Bottom