Atari to back away from boxed product

Atari has revealed that 90 per cent of its output will be online-only in a few years as it increasingly favours online titles over traditional retail.

The publisher’s recent deal with Namco Bandai includes a clause which gives the Japanese developer and publisher the option to buy Infogrames’ distribution business outright in five years’ time – giving Atari the opportunity to concentrate fully on its vision of becoming a top-five online brand.

"We’re taking the first steps here," Atari CEO David Gardner told MCV. "In five years, Namco Bandai will probably own the majority of it, it will no longer be our responsibility and Atari will be just an online company – within five years we’ll have 90 per cent online products."

And Atari president Phil Harrison added that the publisher is starting to build a new ‘online-only’ global development empire.

"We want to grow our business and part of that growth strategy includes geographic expansion," he told MCV. "We have a huge talent base in the UK that we would like to attract to our organisation."

"The signing of Paulina Bozek to the London studio is a great first step towards that and by no means our only step. We are looking at other geographic locations as well."

Take a look at the full interview with David Gardner and Phil Harrison here.