Atari reshuffles to power social and mobile push

Atari continues its transition from old school to new school, rearranging management to cope with a new company direction.

Gamasutra reports Atari has made three new executive appointments - most notably, new faces for its digital publishing and mobile divsions.

One-time king.com general manager Owais Farooqui steps up as senior vice president of digital publishing, drawing on experience from the "hardcore casual" online games portal. Farooqui has held senior positions at the Discovery Channel and Altera.

Maria Pacheco brings specialist experience to her new position as vice president of mobile, having filled a similar role at Vivendi (Activision's parent company), a mobile studio at EA, and even Sprint.

Meanwhile, even a new financial appointment - Robert Mattes will take over chief financial officer duties - is indicative of Atari's intentions; Mattes has extensive experience with micro-transaction powered business.

Atari made headlines recently by jettisoning Star Trek Online and Neverwinter developer Cryptic Studios, with the MMO specialist studio acquired by Perfect World.