Atari officially announced today that David Pierce, the company’s CEO, would be resigning his position. This news was released in the wake of reports concerning a shift of the company’s efforts from production to publishing and distributing the company’s products throughout North America. This change of the company’s focus has also ended the production deal the company had with the majority shareholder Infogrames Entertainment.. Atari’s workforce will be diminished and control of the Test Drive franchise will pass to Infogrames for a period of six years and which will result in a 5 million dollar royalty. The Chief Restructuring Officer for Atari, Curtis Solsvig III, will temporarily take over the CEO’s duties until a formal candidate is selected. Gene Davis, the Chairman of the Board for Atari, stated that the company “appreciate David’s support and commitment through a difficult period in the Company’s history and wish him well in his future endeavors.” The acting CEO, Curtis Solsvig III, was also recorded as saying that “"Atari continues to take important steps to stream-line operations and establish a winning business plan. We expect that the actions we are undertaking today will position us for the future as a preferred business and distribution partner.”