Ghostbusters, Riddick boost Atari revenues in Q1
US distribution business is main earner for beleaguered publisher
Atari has seen a 30.1 per cent climb in its revenues for the first quarter of the year, ended June 30, to EUR 54.5 million.
The success mainly comes from the distribution of two titles – The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, and Ghostbusters: The Video Game – although the publisher warned that "performance in the first quarter is mainly due to a favourable game release schedule and should not be extrapolated for the remaining of the year."
The US distribution business, Atari Inc, contributed 83.5 per cent of revenues for the quarter, with third-party distribution deals for the likes of Zoo and CDV accounting for approximately 33 per cent of the North American business.
However, due to only releasing Riddick in Europe during the period – Sony handled Ghostbusters after signing an exclusivity deal with Atari – revenues in the region dropped by 48.5 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Despite the success with single-player games, the business continues to focus on the online market, with major releases Champions Online and Star Trek Online set for the 2009/2010 fiscal year.