So was releasing Lair a good financial discussion for Factor 5?

The failing is making a bad game. That is not Phil's fault. How releasing a horrible game effects your company going forward is.

There is a good chance that future lost revenue for Atari over this game, could cost them more money then the game generates.

If that happens, then that's Phil's fault. Only time will tell.

to clarify, I am not saying Phil could have made the game good. He could have come in and said.

"I am hear to improve Atari's products. Part of that process is to cancel all projects that do not meet the standards of todays games. Sadly, Alone in The Dark is one of those products. THe gaming community deserves better from this company, and I am here to make sure they get it."

That right there, would probably make Atari more money in the future then Alone in the Dark releasing will.

Yes it was a good decision. If Factor 5 didn't release the game, they would've generated no revenue. No revenue means they would have no chance to make another game. No chance to make another game means they wouldn't even have the opportunity to lose revenue in the future. 

When your life is on the line and someone is holding a gun to your head, you don't worry whether or not your next decision will cause you pain in the future. You worry about surviving right now. That's how dire Atari's current financial situation is. 

@ TheRealMafoo )

No, it wouldn't have helped future game sales at all, because gamers aren't as kind hearted as you seem to believe - instead Atari would have to face a shitstorm of hatred coming at them from people that were (understandably) hyped for this game.

Ofcourse the low quality of this title could lead to some "boycotting", but chances are it's forgotten and forgiven when their next title releases.

Btw money in the future is nice, but Atari needs the money _now_ to not become insolvent and to be able to support their other projects. They really aren't in any financial position to give up on sales of a big investment like AitD5 is/was.

/Facepalm.

I don't think the gaming community will bear much of a grudge if this game is considered shovelware.

On the other hand, if Phil were to cancel the project outright, well, I think Atari's shareholders might not be very forgiving. Atari isn't in the position where it can throw away money to preserve its reputation in the marketplace. It's not like it has such a fantastic reputation as it is...

Aw. I thought quite a lot had been expected from this game

Not really. To me, so much as the box art radiated an aura of mediocrity to me. And when I saw Atari, I gave an uncomfortable shiver. I expected it to be a bit average, but not as mediocre as has been shown. Should still sell a decent amount on the 360, although I feel bad for Atari. At least there's hope.

disolitude: you clearly work for Atari or date someone that worked on the game. Seriously. Have you even played the game outside private alpha testing?

Atari has brought out a lot of major suck lately but they did publish both Neverwinter Nights games and a few other good games out of the Bioware studio. Now EA owns Bioware so looks like everrthing from this point on is going to continue being major suck.

(They have a contract with Obsidian so hopefully Alpha Protocol can keep them from folding again)