BLOOMBERG (USA), LES ECHOS (France)
The U.S.-based businesses of the iconic video-game-maker Atari have filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
An Atari 2600 console – Wikimedia
Late Sunday, Atari said it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to free the company from its French parent Atari SA, formerly Infogrames, and focus on digital and mobile games, the French financial newspaper conseils_col_droite_finance_marches-20121127–lientext–HP_finance-marches“>Les Echos reports.
According to Bloomberg, the French parent, which hasn’t made a profit since 1999, said it was expecting “significant losses” in 2013, adding that it would weigh all means of raising cash and had been talking to potential investors. Atari shares fell as much as 5.6 percent to 84 cents in Paris trading early Monday.
Screenshot of Atari’s 1979 game Asteroids – Wikimedia
The brand, founded in 1972 in California by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, became a pioneer in arcade and video games, creating legendary products such as Pong, Asteroids and the Atari 2600 console. Although the company has helped define the video-game-making business from the 1970s to the mid-1980s, it has been plagued by financial difficulties for decades.
Screenshot of Atari’s iconic game Pong – Wikimedia
if atari go down none of their game will work online oh wait they dont anyway
— mystery moon (@beetjeff) January 21, 2013
Really hoping Atari assets get picked up by a snazzy start up with a young CEO so I can use the headline: Atari Teenage Buyout.
— Dan ಠ_ಠPearson (@Danbojones) January 21, 2013
Atari has been reduced to a mere cool logo on a tee-shirt for so long, who knew they were still in games… sad!
— PS Vita Roundup (@psp2roundup) January 21, 2013
