Atari in Serious Financial Trouble

chevalier · Mon, 13th Feb '06, 8:45pm

Dark clouds are gathering on Atari's sky, putting its future in question. As a result of heavy losses, the publisher may be forced to sell intellectual property rights or close some of its studios. Here's a snip:

Atari Inc, the US division of French publisher Infogrames, has confirmed that the company's ability to continue as a going concern is now in question after its third quarter results slid into the red.

The firm's results for the quarter ended December 31st revealed sales down to $100.8 million from a figure of $156.4 million a year previously, while profits collapsed into a net loss of $4.8 million, from a profit of $19.6 million in the previous year.

The figures are a slight improvement over the rest of the financial year to date; over the past nine months, Atari's sales have fallen more than 50 per cent year on year to just $163.4 million (down from $332.5 million), and the firm is trailing a nine-month loss of $62.8 million compared with a nine-month profit of $14.8 million in the last three quarters of calendar 2004.

Wonder what this means for Neverwinter Nights 2...

Read the rest at Eurogamer.

Merlanni · Mon, 13th Feb '06, 9:06pm

It can be positive. If they sell the rights to D&D(Which they own for as far as I know) to an serieus developer, who knows what will happen. Most people on this forum have not been happy with the way atari handels rpg's anyway.

NWN2 is almost finished so that project must be launced to avoid much loss. They know that NWN2 will sell.

JSBB · Mon, 13th Feb '06, 9:47pm

Given Atari's poor track record with buggy software that is released too soon I am almost afraid to think of what Neverwinter Nights 2 will be like if they try to squeeze it out. If they really are going on the basis that they are not a going concern then it seems likely that they would try to sell the project to someone who is capable of completing it but who knows if they would be able to find a buyer.

Oh, and for those of you who don't know - the wording about being a "going concern" is a financial accounting term. Basically, the primary assumption that you need for normal accounting is that a business is a going concern. Things have to be really, really bad before you concede that the business is not a going concern. If you are not a going concern then all of your assets must be restated to their liquidation values.

Here ends lesson one of accounting 101.

chevalier · Mon, 13th Feb '06, 10:59pm

Point there, Merlanni. I would be way happier if D&D rights were to go to someone dedicated to making something real out of them instead of being yet another mid-ranking asset of a huge corporation with lots of other problems to care about and simply owning it, i.e. making either unspectacular or bug-ridden games, not giving a damn about customer support or good relations with developers and just waiting for the coffers to fill.

I suppose BioWare might have anticipated the current situation in first not taking NWN2 or any D&D game from Atari (KotOR was made for Lucas Arts, by the way), then not contracting a publisher for Dragon Age and finally the exotic merger with Pandemic under the even more exotic Elevation lead.

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Mon, 13th Feb '06, 8:45pm	#1
chevalier SPS Account Holder Senior News Editor Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: I wish I were in the land of coffee... Posts: 16,686 Like: 2 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post vBActivity - Stats XP: 62,754 Level: 62 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 24.52% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 1.73% Achievements	Dark clouds are gathering on Atari's sky, putting its future in question. As a result of heavy losses, the publisher may be forced to sell intellectual property rights or close some of its studios. Here's a snip: Atari Inc, the US division of French publisher Infogrames, has confirmed that the company's ability to continue as a going concern is now in question after its third quarter results slid into the red. The firm's results for the quarter ended December 31st revealed sales down to $100.8 million from a figure of $156.4 million a year previously, while profits collapsed into a net loss of $4.8 million, from a profit of $19.6 million in the previous year. The figures are a slight improvement over the rest of the financial year to date; over the past nine months, Atari's sales have fallen more than 50 per cent year on year to just $163.4 million (down from $332.5 million), and the firm is trailing a nine-month loss of $62.8 million compared with a nine-month profit of $14.8 million in the last three quarters of calendar 2004. Wonder what this means for Neverwinter Nights 2... Read the rest at Eurogamer.

Mon, 13th Feb '06, 9:06pm	#2
Merlanni SPS Account Holder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Holland, Stad aan het haringvliet Posts: 1,967 Like: 6 Liked 6 Times in 5 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 4,834 Level: 21 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 83.53% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 16.53% Achievements Awards	It can be positive. If they sell the rights to D&D(Which they own for as far as I know) to an serieus developer, who knows what will happen. Most people on this forum have not been happy with the way atari handels rpg's anyway. NWN2 is almost finished so that project must be launced to avoid much loss. They know that NWN2 will sell.

Mon, 13th Feb '06, 9:47pm	#3
JSBB Titan of the Tundra Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The Great White North Posts: 4,054 Like: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 8,574 Level: 27 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 93.95% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 1.73% Achievements	Given Atari's poor track record with buggy software that is released too soon I am almost afraid to think of what Neverwinter Nights 2 will be like if they try to squeeze it out. If they really are going on the basis that they are not a going concern then it seems likely that they would try to sell the project to someone who is capable of completing it but who knows if they would be able to find a buyer. Oh, and for those of you who don't know - the wording about being a "going concern" is a financial accounting term. Basically, the primary assumption that you need for normal accounting is that a business is a going concern. Things have to be really, really bad before you concede that the business is not a going concern. If you are not a going concern then all of your assets must be restated to their liquidation values. Here ends lesson one of accounting 101.

Mon, 13th Feb '06, 10:59pm	#4
chevalier SPS Account Holder Senior News Editor Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: I wish I were in the land of coffee... Posts: 16,686 Like: 2 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post vBActivity - Stats XP: 62,754 Level: 62 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 24.52% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 1.73% Achievements	Point there, Merlanni. I would be way happier if D&D rights were to go to someone dedicated to making something real out of them instead of being yet another mid-ranking asset of a huge corporation with lots of other problems to care about and simply owning it, i.e. making either unspectacular or bug-ridden games, not giving a damn about customer support or good relations with developers and just waiting for the coffers to fill. I suppose BioWare might have anticipated the current situation in first not taking NWN2 or any D&D game from Atari (KotOR was made for Lucas Arts, by the way), then not contracting a publisher for Dragon Age and finally the exotic merger with Pandemic under the even more exotic Elevation lead.