In an interview with UK trade publication MCV, Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell has today revealed that the company will be selling off its internal studios instead focusing on external studios for future projects.

The move comes after the latest financial results from Atari, which revealed less than expected figures, although Bonnell comments that the decision to sell the studios came at the end of 2005:

In the MCV interview Bonnell said, "Ahead of all this, we had decided in December that we should refocus our creativity efforts on external studios, rather than internal development...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."

Those important projects include Driver: Parallel Lines, Stuntman 2, Battlezone, new games featuring Earthworm Jim, and Test Drive for both current and next-gen formats.

Selling its internal studios is one part of Atari's strategy, the other being a refinement of its US operations. Any restructuring will not be affecting Europe however, with Bonnell stating that he's proud of them and that, "they've had their pain already."

Despite the negative news, the announcement that Earthworm Jim will be making a return to consoles is sure to excite those of us old enough to remember his adventures on the 16-bit systems - Groovy!

We'll have more news shortly...