Atari CEO Caparro Resigns

Video game publisher and developer Atari has announced announced that James Caparro, the company's President and CEO, has resigned his position effective immediately, after less than 7 months in the top position of the beleaguered U.S. publisher. The company has not specifically cited any reasons for his departure. Hired in late November 2004 at a salary of $700,000, Caparro presided over the closing of Atari offices in Santa Monica, California, and Beverly, Massachusetts, but has now exited the company, and will become President and Chief Executive Officer of Entertainment Distribution Corp., a CD/DVD manufacturer/distributor, and a company that Caparro originally founded in 2003. Most recently, parent company Infogrames posted somewhat decreased revenues for the year ending March 31st, 2005, though a marginally increased profit, citing fewer software releases by Atari and the hardware shortage during the holiday season. Atari has also recently suffered from the loss of the Microprose-originated Civilization franchise (sold to Take-Two in mid-2004), as well as the decision by developer Epic to publish its Unreal titles via publisher Midway. Atari, a division of French-headquartered Infogrames, has appointed Infogrames founder and Atari Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Bruno Bonnell, to act as CEO on an interim basis. According to Atari, "the board has instituted an immediate search for a permanent President and CEO."