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Game Developer's Top 20 Publishers, 2006
Year formed: 1983 Atari has had a rough year. The French-owned publisher posted reduced revenues over the past 12 months, which resulted in significant losses. The Matrix: Path of Neo and Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure underperformed. It faced mountains of debt, multiple lawsuits (two of which had been settled at the time of writing), and a warning from the Nasdaq stock exchange that the publisher would be de-listed if it didn’t improve its stock price. Soon after the warning from Nasdaq, Atari announced a series of efforts aimed at hauling itself out from the muck, beginning with a 20 percent reduction in staff and the sales of two of its major subsidiary developers—Reflections (Driver) and Paradigm (Stuntman). The publisher still hasn’t returned to profitability, Atari is losing much less money than it was around this time last year. The revenues it has managed to post, its fair release count, and a middling average review score have helped it stay in the top 20 this year, and its promising lineup for the next year (which includes Neverwinter Nights 2, two Dragon Ball Z titles, the next-gen iteration of Alone in the Dark, among others) should help push Atari closer to the black ink.
Year formed: 1988 Occupying the final spot on the list of Top 20 Publishers is Midway, who has suffered low revenues and losses all year long due to the generational transition and development costs. The publisher acquired studios in Australia (Ratbag) and England (Pitbull Syndicate) in August and October, respectively. But just a few months later, after posting major quarterly and yearly losses, Midway closed down Ratbag and gave the pink slip to all employees there. The revenues that the company did manage to post and its still-healthy release schedule saved Midway from sliding off the Top 20, as its average review scores fell considerably from last year’s grade. Keeping the publisher ranked this year were its mainstay sports titles, most notably NBA Ballers: Phenom, NFL Blitz: The League, and the successful Mortal Kombat side-trip Shaolin Monks. |
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