Infogrames CEO outlines recovery plans for company and Atari

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 17th 2008 at 1:00PM }

Infogrames CEO Patrick Leleu plans to turn his beleaguered company (which owns even more beleaguered Atari) around by focusing on mass-market friendly titles, an Atari games portal and getting some now-gen titles out the door. Leleu spoke with French newspaper Les Echos, with the interview being translated by Next-Gen.

Leleu said there are three major things the company plans to do to turn its financial fortunes around. The first is a plan to spend big with the company's new loan on established properties like Alone in the Dark (now expected in May, uh huh), Test Drive and Dungeons and Dragons. Next, the company will increase investment in "mass-market titles" for the new demographics drawn to the DS and Wii -- whether that means more shovelware or actual new stuff is anyone's guess. Finally, Infogrames wants to boost Atari's internet presence by making Atari.com a place to play online or download games; this made all the more clear by GameTap's loss of Atari titles. It's time to gussy up the old cow up and make her look good for buying.

Tags: atari, infogrames, leleu

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) @ Jan 17th 2008 1:06PM

Step 1 change name from Infrogrames.

KushielsScion007 @ Jan 17th 2008 1:08PM

I sincerely wish them the best of luck.

fco. @ Jan 17th 2008 1:46PM

If not, I'll never forgive myself for trading my 800XL for a NES.

mattclarkie @ Jan 17th 2008 1:48PM

Definately sounds like this to me.

Exec1 "We are going bust,...what can we do".

Exec2 "We need to sell more games that cost nothing to develop"

Exec1 "Who will buy a game that costs little to develop when you have consoles like the Xbox360 and PS3 pushing the boundaries of gaming"

Janitor "Why don't you develop for the Wii, that thing costs nothing to develop for, and as they are owned buy 4year olds parents buy the games"

Exec 1 "Perfect, parents know jack all about games, they'll buy turd if we put a colourful picture on the box. I'll get the whole company working on this"

I know this may seem insulting, but I expect this is really what did happen.

Lars @ Jan 17th 2008 4:42PM

Well, if that's how it went, then nothing's changed. That's the reason they're in this pickle in the first place.

mattclarkie @ Jan 17th 2008 1:52PM

Hey, what happened to my comment.

Here it is, and if the first comes back I am sorry for the double post.

Definately sounds like this to me.

Exec1 "We are going bust,...what can we do".

Exec2 "We need to sell more games that cost nothing to develop"

Exec1 "Who will buy a game that costs little to develop when you have consoles like the Xbox360 and PS3 pushing the boundaries of gaming"

Janitor "Why don't you develop for the Wii, that thing costs nothing to develop for, and as they are owned buy 4year olds parents buy the games"

Exec 1 "Perfect, parents know jack all about games, they'll buy turd if we put a colourful picture on the box. I'll get the whole company working on this"

I know this may seem insulting, but I expect this is really what did happen.

fco. @ Jan 17th 2008 4:48PM

Nintendo is making millions nowdays selling zero cost games with the Virtual Console.

I say Atari should do something similar with their 8-bit games. They could even actually join the Virtual Console like Sega did.

DemiurgicSoul @ Jan 17th 2008 6:47PM

Maybe they should release the Infogrames theme song as a single?

Tom @ Jan 17th 2008 7:16PM

Can we maybe get a sequel to Silver? Or at least a port for the Wii?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_%28video_game%29

Seishino @ Jan 17th 2008 10:35PM

>>Our current strategy consists of starting to spend on capital projects again, adopting a consistent publishing policy that takes into account new market trends, and restructuring the company, including by turning around our Atari Inc. subsidiary in the United States.