Infogrames is having to bail out the third-party publisher, after it records heavy losses of $32.8 million in the first financial quarter.

In the first financial quarter ended June 30th, Atari was well down on sales figures compared to the previous year, where sales of Driv3r kept the company buoyant. With no big-name releases, this year Atari saw turnover of just $24.2 million, a drop of 77% per cent on last year's figures.

Shares tumbled in Atari when company president and CEO James Caparro unexpectedly resigned back in June after only half a year in the position, and are expected to be effected further by this negative news.

The company has had to request HSBC, for "waivers of certain financial covenants," according to CFO Diane Baker, and has turned to French parent company Infogrames for monetary aid. The company will apparently provide "financial backing to Atari's operations and cash requirements," for the time being, though no actual figures were released.

Atari's CEO Bruno Bonnel, also in charge of Infogrames concluded that, for now at least, "as a result of the support of Infogrames, we believe Atari will have the financial flexibility necessary to meet the current demands of the market place."