IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Atari Welcomes Back Nolan Bushnell

Posted April 19, 2010 by James Brightman

Atari has announced several changes to its Board of Directors today. Nolan Bushnell, who co-founded the original Atari in 1972, is now back with the new Atari, serving on its Board of Directors. Bushnell has started over 20 companies since the original Atari (perhaps most notably Chuck E. Cheese) and has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consumer Electronics Association Hall of Fame. He will be a representative of the BlueBay High Yield Investment (Luxembourg) SARL.

“I am very excited to be reacquainted with Atari at a time when it is poised to make interesting strides in key growth areas of the games industry,” said Bushnell. “The company and its iconic brands have always been important to me, and I look forward to further guiding them at the board level.” 

Also joining Atari's Board is Tom Virden, a "seasoned executive in the online leisure, technology and travel businesses who will bring Atari his strong knowledge of online business and e-commerce."  Virden founded Boatbookings.com, the largest yachts charter-only website. Virden will also join the Audit Committee of Atari. “I look forward to providing strategic insight and guidance to the executive team as it further expands its business online and builds value around its world-renowned brand and properties,” he said.

Atari said that these two Board appointments  come at a time "when Atari has increased its focus on its iconic brand and world-renowned game franchises while further expanding its business online." Frank Dangeard, Atari's Chairman of the Board, commented, "We are very pleased to welcome Mr. Bushnell and Mr. Virden as new members of the Board of Directors of Atari. We are convinced that their deep industry, technology and online business knowledge will be a substantial addition to the strategic insight of our Board.”

Notably, David Gardner and Phil Harrison have also resigned from Atari's Board. Gardner was replaced as CEO by Jeff Lapin last December. This likely means that Gardner and Harrison no longer have any roles within Atari, but we've pinged Atari for clarification and will let you know. Update: Yes, we're correct. Gardner and Harrison are out.

Update 2: IndustryGamers spoke with Bushnell about his "homecoming" and why he's confident in the Atari brand. You can read that here.

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.