Ghostbusters, Riddick Drive Atari Sales Up 30% in Q1
Atari after many years of sadness today can celebrate because their total revenues have gone up over 50 million euros in the first quarter of the year. IndustryGamers reports. Read More:
The two major driving forces behind Atari's upbeat sales come from license purchases from Activision-Blizzard left over from Sierra Entertainment.
In Lyon, France today Atari has announced its fiscal results for the first quarter ended June 30. Total revenues were up 30.1% to 54.5 million euros, thanks mainly to the success of two titles: Ghostbusters: The Video Game and The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.
The U.S. business drove the bulk of sales with 45.5 million euros in the quarter, which is an 82% increase. This offset a nearly 49% decline in the European business, as revenues dropped to 8.6 million euros. In the U.S., Atari also noted that it saw improved third-party distribution revenues, which now represent approximately 33% of U.S. Distribution revenues (thanks to local distribution deals with ZOO Games and CDV Software Entertainment).
Atari also pointed to revenue from licensing operations, such as the deal signed with Sony Europe to launch Ghostbusters exclusively on PlayStation in Europe. You may recall that Atari recently completed its divestiture of the distribution business in Europe by selling it to Namco Bandai. This enabled the publisher to exit a "fragmented distribution business in Europe and Asia/Pacific, which is no longer part of the Company’s strategic focus, thereby reducing sharply the resources tied up in working capital and the risks associated to this business."
Atari also said that its Q1 performance "is mainly due to a favorable game release schedule and should not be extrapolated for the remaining of the year." The company expects operating income to be "at or above breakeven" for the second half of the fiscal year. It's two biggest launches include Champions Online and Star Trek Online.
The U.S. business drove the bulk of sales with 45.5 million euros in the quarter, which is an 82% increase. This offset a nearly 49% decline in the European business, as revenues dropped to 8.6 million euros. In the U.S., Atari also noted that it saw improved third-party distribution revenues, which now represent approximately 33% of U.S. Distribution revenues (thanks to local distribution deals with ZOO Games and CDV Software Entertainment).
Atari also pointed to revenue from licensing operations, such as the deal signed with Sony Europe to launch Ghostbusters exclusively on PlayStation in Europe. You may recall that Atari recently completed its divestiture of the distribution business in Europe by selling it to Namco Bandai. This enabled the publisher to exit a "fragmented distribution business in Europe and Asia/Pacific, which is no longer part of the Company’s strategic focus, thereby reducing sharply the resources tied up in working capital and the risks associated to this business."
Atari also said that its Q1 performance "is mainly due to a favorable game release schedule and should not be extrapolated for the remaining of the year." The company expects operating income to be "at or above breakeven" for the second half of the fiscal year. It's two biggest launches include Champions Online and Star Trek Online.
The two major driving forces behind Atari's upbeat sales come from license purchases from Activision-Blizzard left over from Sierra Entertainment.