Two New Test Drive Games In Next 6 Years News

Atari has revealed that two new Test Drive games will be developed at Eden Studios in the next year. However, the publishers will have nothing to do with the production of the game due to ongoing restructuring throughout the company. Instead, parent company Infogrames will take over the license for the Test Drive series.

In the same press release, Atari stated that they will pull-out of games production in order to focus on games publishing and distribution in North America. The French publisher's current games production capacity is limited anyway, so this restructuring is not as vast as it may seem.

Nevertheless, Atari has entered into an agreement with parent company Infogrames to pass over their remaining production operations. This includes a six year contract, pulling in $5 million (£2.41 million) in advance royalties, for Eden Studios' Test Drive Unlimited license. The press release reads: "The agreement allows IESA [Infogrames], whose Eden Studios originally developed Test Drive Unlimited for Atari, to develop and market at least two new releases of the franchise during the life of the license."

Curtis G. Solsvig III, Atari's Chief Restructuring Officer, commented on the restructuring: "Atari continues to take important steps to stream-line operations and establish a winning business plan. We expect that the actions we are undertaking today will position us for the future as a preferred business and distribution partner."

This news comes as David Pierce announces his resignation as CEO of Atari, leaving Curtis G. Solsvig III (the Chief Restructuring Officer) to take over Peirce's responsibilities while Atari search for a replacement.

Pierce's resignation isn't the only high-profile departure this year. Bruno Bonnell resigned from his positions at Infogrames and Atari last spring, after a long career at the firms. Speaking of Pierce's resignation from Atari, Gene Davis, Chairman of the Board of Directors said, "We appreciate David's support and commitment through a difficult period in the Company's history and wish him well in his future endeavours."

Last week, Atari published a disappointing first quarter financial report for the 2007/08 year, where the company revealed $11.9 million losses (£5.74 million). As part of ongoing restructuring, Atari will be reducing its workforce in order to fall under budgetary constraints.