It seems the recent launch of Dungeons & Dragons: Online Stormreach hasn’t been enough to pull Atari out of the dumps. The game company has been warned by NASDAQ that if it doesn’t get its stock prices up, it will lose its listing on that stock exchange.
The company has until Aug. 30 to boost it prices above $1 for at least 10 consecutive days or it’s gone.
The company’s woes have been going on for some time and this has not been for lack of being connected with some major title releases. In addition to D&D, the company’s also involved with such titles as Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Driver: Parallel Lines and Dragonball Z.
Last month, Atari posted disappointing sales numbers for the first quarter fiscal year 2006 (the period ending December 31, 2005), earning only $100.8 million, a 36% decrease on its Q3 2005 revenue of $156.4, in an aggravated version of the continuing overall market weakness. Due to the lower income, Atari posted a net loss of $4.8 million, compared to its profit of $19.6 million in Q3 2005.
Shortly afterwards, Atari delayed its official SEC filing, causing shares to plummet for parent company Infogrames. Additionally, Atari announced a twenty percent staff reduction, and CEO Bruce Bonnell commented to British trade paper MCV that the company planned to sell off its internal game studios.
No such sales have yet been reported, but with the number of studios owned by the company, including Reflections (Driver 4), Melbourne House (currently work on a title in the Test Drive series), Paradigm (Stuntman 2, Battlezone) and Shiny Studios (Earthworm Jim), Atari is certainly not short of options. However, it's unclear whether this would improve the long-term prospects for the company, following disappointing financial results and continuing debt issues.
Gamasutra
Related:
Atari's Uncertain Future
Atari On Shaky Ground
Atari Gearing Up For Driver: Parallel Lines Release
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