At least, that's the message MCV got, when talking to Infogrames CEO David Gardner. Meanwhile, Atari will continue developing online social games in order to establish itself as a prominent web-based developer.

The deal is mainly aimed at establishing an independent identity for the publishers. Gardner reasons that one of the strong suits of the Namco Bandai Infogrames cooperation will be their focus on distribution, and distribution alone. In creating a spin-off company both publishers hope to make clear there are no conflicts of interest.

With this deal Atari expects to gain a quarter of the European and PAL markets still looking for distribution.

In other news: