Atari to lay off 20 percent of staff

Game publisher Atari will soon be cutting its workforce by a total of 20 percent, including approximately 26 percent of its administration employees. The move, to be completed by the end of July, comes after the departure of former Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell from all his positions at parent company Infrogrames in April and his replacement by Patrick Leleu. The redundancy plan was approved at the board of directors meeting on April 10 and is expected to incur restructuring charges during fiscal year 2008 of between $800,000 and $1.1 million.

Atari CEO and President David Pierce commented, "We expect that today's reorganization will continue to reduce Atari's general and administrative cost. These actions, though difficult, are a significant first step in reorganizing Atari and demonstrate our commitment to restoring shareholder value."

Emma Boyes reported for GameSpot UK.