Atari has announced that it has replaced David Gardner with new chief executive officer Jeff Lapin.

Lapin joined as chief operating officer in May 2009 after having been a director of the company since December 2007.

“For the last 2 years, first as a Director of the Board and then as COO, I have contributed to the transformation of Atari,” said Lapin. “It has been a challenging time, which resulted in a new publishing strategy with a strong online focus and a shift of the operations to the US. We will launch our second MMO game – Star Trek Online - in February 2010. I am excited to take on these new responsibilities at this important time and look forward to developing Atari’s strategy to bring the company back to profitability.”

Lapin has previously held positions at RazorGator Interactive Group, Take-Two Interactive Software and THQ. He will now run Atari’s global operations from Los Angeles.