Atari online revenues soar 494%

Atari’s revenues dropped from €92.5m (77.7m) to €41m (34.4m) year-on-year during the nine months ending December 31st.

Despite the 55.7 per cent dip in overall revenues, Atari’s online business grew 493.5 per cent during the fiscal period. €18.4m (15.4m) was generated in this area compared to €3.1m (2.6m) the year prior.

Atari’s retail and other revenues dipped from €89.4m (79m) to €22.6m (19m) – a drop of 74.7 per cent year-on-year. Overall, retail sales formed 55.1 per cent of Atari’s revenues while online made up 44.9 per cent.

The enormous growth in online revenues is down to the success of PC MMOs Star Trek Online and Champions Online.

Our nine-month revenues are in line with our outlook and show a continued shift toward fewer but more profitable retail releases and the growing online games market,” said Atari CEO Jim Wilson.

We launched Champions Online in the free-to-play model in January 2011, and the initial results have been promising. We have also released Test Drive Unlimited 2 in line with our forecasts and to positive ratings in the US and Europe.

Over the next few months, we look forward to new game releases based upon our classic Atari game franchises as well as Ghostbusters, Dungeons and Dragons and The Witcher.”

Namco Bandai helps distribute Atari games in the UK.