Atari president Phil Harrison has left his post as president of Atari, moving to the role of non-executive director of the Group.

The shock move comes after MCV revealed that Atari’s European operation would, for the most part, be entirely taken over by Namco Bandai in the next few weeks.

That looked set to leave Harrison and Infogrames CEO David Gardner at the heart of a new, US-centric, online content-driven Atari.

However, Harrison's withdrawal has now left question marks hanging over the hierarchy of the company.

In a statement, Atari said:

“Because of a shift of business operations to the US, Phil Harrison will move from the role of President to that of non-executive Director of the Group. As all Board members, he will continue to assist, support and guide the Company's strategy.”

Meanwhile, Atari has also announced that Jeff Lapin has joined Atari as COO. Lapin was already an active member of Infogrames’ Board, and a former CEO of both THQ and Take Two.