http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUKPAC00944120080410?feedType=RSS&feedName=technology-media-telco-SP&pageNumber=1
PARIS, April 10 (Reuters) - France's Infogrames (IFOE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) expects to sell 2-3 million units of "Alone in the Dark" in its current fiscal year as it banks on the new high-adrenaline action game to boost revenue, its new head said on Thursday. Chief Executive David Gardner also told Reuters in an interview that his top priority was to return the loss-making company to break-even.
Gardner, who joined Infogrames in January, said he wanted to boost the contribution of the United States to global revenue and that he had not been approached by any potential buyer for the company.
"We want to stop losing money...This management's team number one goal is to get a business plan together that gets us to a break-even level."
He would not commit to a specific timetable, saying that Infogrames was "reviewing a policy of whether to give targets to the market.
Infogrames is releasing "Alone in the Dark", a game in which hero Edward Carnby must over the course of one night uncover secrets hidden in New York's Central Park, in June.
It will be available for the Wii, PlayStation 2, XBox360 consoles and on PCs on June 20 in Europe and on June 24 in the U.S.
"Over the life of the product in this business year across platforms we are expecting between 2 and 3 million units," Gardner said when asked about his sales targets for the game.
Infogrames' fiscal year runs from April to March.
Infogrames initially planned to release the game in the fourth quarter which ended on Mar. 31.
Asked about the impact of the delay on fourth-quarter sales, to be published on May 14, Gardner said:
"The fourth quarter is going to be obviously smaller than Q4 a year ago because the core release that was going to make the core of revenue is now in Q1".
Asked if he could confirm the group's previously published goal to stabilise revenue in 2007/08, he said:
"For the full business year, we are not announcing any different guidance. So it's in the region. I would not expect a full year increase but I would not expect to be much different either from last fiscal year considering currencies and all that".
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon)
