Jump to content

Atari SA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Infogrames Europe)

Atari SA
FormerlyInfogrames Entertainment SA (1983–2009)
Company typePublic
ISINFR0010478248
Industry
FoundedJune 1983; 41 years ago (1983-06) in Lyon, France
FounderBruno Bonnell, Christophe Sapet
Headquarters,
France
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Wade J. Rosen (chairman and CEO)
Brands
RevenueIncrease 6.4 million[1] (2023)
Decrease €-5 million (2023)
Decrease €-6.6 million (2023)
Total assetsIncrease €54.6 million (2023)
Total equityIncrease €11.2 million (2023)
SubsidiariesSee § Subsidiaries
Websiteatari-investisseurs.fr

Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA (French pronunciation: [ɛ̃fɔɡʁam])), also known under the Atari Group moniker,[2][3] is a French holding company headquartered in Paris that owns mainly video gaming-related interactive entertainment properties. Atari SA's core subsidiaries include the publisher and marketer Atari, Inc., developers Nightdive Studios and Digital Eclipse, and publisher Infogrames, It also has a blockchain division, Atari X, and additionally owns the websites MobyGames and AtariAge. Through these divisions, the company owns the rights to many video game properties that originated from Accolade, Atari, Inc., Atari Corporation, GT Interactive, M Network, Intellivision and others. It is the sole owner of the Atari brand since 2001, through its subsidiary Atari Interactive Inc. which licenses the brand to other entities in the group.[4]

Infogrames published numerous video games during the 1990s and eventually became one of the largest video game companies in the world through an acquisition policy. However, later, as Atari SA, it dealt with continuing pressures and difficulty finding investors which led to the company seeking bankruptcy protection under French law in January 2013 while subsidiaries in the United States sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as well.[5] Since 2020, the company has seen a turnaround with a new focus on dealing with re-releases of older titles and the acquisition of companies that deal with the re-release of mainly abandonware video games; it also abandoned its cryptocurrency and casino divisions, which the company had focused on during previous leadership.[6]

History

[edit]

Early history (1983–1996)

[edit]
Bruno Bonnell in 2008

The company was founded by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet.[7] They wanted to christen the company Zboub Système (which can be approximately translated to Dick System in English), but were dissuaded by their legal counsel.[8] According to Bonnell in a TV interview, they then used a mix-and-match computer program to suggest other names, one of which was "Infogramme": a portmanteau of the French words "informatique" (information technology) and "programme" (computer program). The final choice, Infogrames, was a slightly modified version of that suggestion.[9]

The company logo and mascot is an armadillo (tatou in French), chosen when the company was moved to Villeurbanne. Bonnell commented: "This dinosaur [sic] is our symbol. The armadillo has always survived changes to its environment, from the melting of glaciers to the worst of heat waves."[8]

In the late 1980s, Infogrames was noted for its French computer games that often featured original game ideas and occasionally humorous content. They had acquired several licences for popular Franco-Belgian comics. In 1992, they released Alone in the Dark, a 3D horror adventure game, to international attention.[10]

By 1995, Infogrames was held by many shareholders, including a 20% stake from Pathé Interactive (joint-venture between Phillips Media and Chargeurs) and 3.3% by Productions Marcel Dassault.[11] By August, Phillips Media acquired Chargeurs' stake in Pathé Interactive, which led to the 20% shareholding stake of the company transferring fully over to Phillips.[12]

Growth through acquisition (1996–2000)

[edit]
Infogrames logo from 1996 to 2000

In 1996, Infogrames embarked on an acquisition campaign that would last seven years and cost more than $500 million; the objective was to become the world's leading interactive entertainment publisher.[13] While the company's debt increased from $55 million in 1999 to $493 million in 2002, the company's revenue also increased from $246 million to $650 million during the same period.[14]

In July 1996, the company announced that it would purchase the British-based holding company Ocean International Ltd. for $100 million, beginning Infogrames' status as a major publisher.[15][16] Ocean International consisted of British developer and publisher Ocean Software and its North American division Ocean of America. After the deal was closed, Ocean became a standalone subsidiary of Infogrames and continued releasing its own titles distant from those of Infogrames. Both Ocean subsidiaries soon became the official distributors for Infogrames in both territories.

In 1997, Infogrames Télématique launched Oceanline, a website that would offer simplified online versions of Infogrames titles.[17] On February 3, Infogrames announced that they would purchase the French division of Phillips Media BV for 191.5 million F[18][19] with the deal closing on June 9.[20] Phillips Media France, in addition to holding a 20% shareholding stake in Infogrames, also owned the distributors Ecudis (France), Leisuresoft (UK), Bomico Entertainment Software (Germany and Holland),[21] and German publisher Laguna Video Games.[22] Leisuresoft was however not included in the sale, and was shuttered following the purchase.[23]

On January 30, 1998, Infogrames signed a licensing deal with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to publish and develop five titles based on the Looney Tunes franchise.[24] On February 8, Infogrames rebranded its subsidiaries under its own banner, with Ocean Software becoming Infogrames United Kingdom,[25][26] Ocean of America becoming Infogrames Entertainment, Inc.[27][28] and Bomico Entertainment Software becoming Infogrames Deutschland. On the same day, the company announced a two-year distribution deal with Canal+ Multimedia to distribute the company's titles in the UK, France and Germany.[29] Later on in the year the company purchased the distributors ABS Multimedia, Arcadia, and the Swiss Gamecity GmbH[30][31] and ending the year off with the purchase of a 62.5% in Australian game distributor Ozisoft, following its then-recent relinquishment from Sega.[32]

On February 10, 1999, Infogrames extended its partnership with Canal+ Multimedia by purchasing a 50% stake in the publisher, with the intentions to invest 50 million F into creating titles based on Canal+'s licenses.[33] Infogrames made major purchases for 1999, beginning in March with the purchase of the Gremlin Group for $40 million in March, who owned developers Gremlin Interactive and DMA Design.,[34] with Gremlin rebranding as Infogrames Sheffield House. On April 5, Psygnosis' Paris development studio was purchased.[35] The company's first major purchase of the year came on April 20, with the purchase of publisher Accolade for $60 million in order to gain a major North American distribution network.[36][37] Accolade was rebranded as Infogrames North America, with the company's former North American distribution arm (the ex-Ocean of America) being folded into it. On June 24, the company extended its Looney Tunes licensing deal with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for five years, with a maximum of twenty titles.[38] later on in the year, the company purchased the video game division of the Australian-based Beam Software, and rebranded it as Infogrames Melbourne House.[39] On 29 September, Take-Two Interactive purchased DMA Design from Infogrames for US$11 million and transitioned it over to their Rockstar Games subsidiary, soon becoming Rockstar North.

In December 1999, Infogrames made their then-largest purchase with the acquisition of a 70% stake in publisher GT Interactive Software for $135 million, and assumed GT's $75 million bank debt.[31][40] IESA justified the purchase by stating that GT Interactive provided Infogrames with a "distribution network for all of its products in the United States, as well as a catalog of products that includes Driver, Duke Nukem, Oddworld, Unreal Tournament and Deer Hunter.[31] The deal also included the developers SingleTrac, Humongous Entertainment,[41] Cavedog Entertainment, WizardWorks, MacSoft, Legend Entertainment[42] and Reflections Interactive;[43]

Infogrames began the new millennium of 2000 with a new identity and branding, while in February GT closed down Cavedog Entertainment as part of its restructuring.[44] In June, The company invested another $30 million in GT Interactive, and renamed the publisher as Infogrames, Inc.[45] On June 30, Infogrames purchased developer Paradigm Entertainment for $19.5 million and placed them within Infogrames, Inc. operations.[46] and soon afterwards purchased in-flight games developer Den-o-Tech Int. (DTI) for $5.6 million, renaming them as Infogrames DTI.[47][31] Infogrames was also one of the interested companies in purchasing Eidos Interactive.[48]

On December 6, 2000, board game manufacturer Hasbro announced that they would sell their struggling Hasbro Interactive division to Infogrames for $100 million, $95 million as 4.5 million common shares of Infogrames and $5 million in cash.[49][50] The deal included all of Hasbro Interactive's product library, the Atari and MicroProse brands and titles such as Civilization, Falcon, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Centipede, Missile Command, and Pong, MicroProse's owned developers, the Games.com web portal, third-party video game licenses including Thomas the Tank Engine, Family Feud and various Namco properties, as well as a fifteen-year licensing deal to develop and publish titles based on Hasbro IP such as Dungeons & Dragons, Monopoly, Mr. Potato Head and My Little Pony, with an option for an additional 5 years based on performance.[51][52] The deal did not include Avalon Hill, which was retained by Hasbro. The deal was closed on January 29, 2001,[53][52] and Hasbro Interactive was rebranded as Infogrames Interactive, Inc.[54]

On October 2, 2001, Infogrames announced that they would reinvent the Atari brand as a second major publishing label with the launch of three new games featuring prominent Atari branding on their boxarts: Splashdown, MX Rider and TransWorld Surf.[55] Infogrames titles released under the Atari brand would focus within a core 18-34-year-old male audience, while children's and casual games would retain the Infogrames banner.

In April 2002, the company's Japanese division Infogrames Japan K.K. signed a Japanese distribution deal with Konami for select titles[56] and soon relaunched the Atari brand in the country with the publication of Splashdown, TransWorld Surf and V-Rally 3 in the region.[57] On April 25, Infogrames purchased Shiny Entertainment from the struggling Interplay Entertainment for $47 million, alongside the exclusive publishing rights to publish games based on The Matrix.[58] On August 28, Infogrames purchased the remaining shares in OziSoft for $3.7 million and rebranded the distributor as Infogrames Australia and Infogrames New Zealand.[14][59] On September 12, 2002, Infogrames announced the closure of MicroProse's UK studio, then named Infogrames Chippenham.[60][61] On October 2, the company closed Infogrames Lyon House.[62][63] and on October 22, had acquired the remaining 80% of Eden Studios[64] for $4.1 million,.[14] In the fiscal year of 2002, IESA had a net loss of $67 million on revenues of $650 million, and in 2003 the net losses increased to $89 million.[47]

On January 30, 2003, Infogrames sold their Mac publishing division MacSoft to Destineer.[65][66][67][68] On May 1, the company shuttered the Infogrames Sheffield House development studio.

Rebranding to Atari (2003–2006)

[edit]
Atari logo used by Infogrames from 2003 to 2010

On 7 May 2003, Infogrames officially reorganized all its subsidiaries under the Atari banner. Its two publishing divisions in the United States - Infogrames, Inc., based in Santa Monica (the former GT Interactive) which handled a majority of the company's "core" titles such as Enter the Matrix, Dungeons and Dragons (including Neverwinter Nights) and other movie tie-ins, was rebranded as Atari, Inc.,[69] and Infogrames Interactive, Inc., based in Beverly, Massachusetts, which focused on children's and casual titles such as games based on the Dragon Ball franchise and their Hasbro license, was renamed Atari Interactive, Inc.,[54][70] merging with the previously existing Atari Interactive, Inc. which held all rights to the Atari brand.[71] Other subsidiaries that rebranded included Infogrames Australia Pty, Ltd. rebranding as Atari Australia Pty, Ltd.,[32] Infogrames United Kingdom Limited rebranding as Atari United Kingdom Limited,[47] Infogrames Europe rebranding as Atari Europe and development studio Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd becoming Atari Melbourne House Pty Ltd.[39] The Infogrames Entertainment SA company as a whole remained under its name, and became a holding company for the Atari assets.[72] Atari, Inc.'s majority shareholder was California U.S. Holdings, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames Entertainment SA.[70] and had exclusive publishing and sublicensing in North America to release titles from Infogrames or its subsidiaries, including Atari Interactive.[70]

Infogrames Entertainment logo until the 2009 rebranding

In September 2003, Atari announced the closure of the Hunt Valley (the former headquarters of MicroProse) development studio.[73] and Legend Entertainment[74] On October 2, following the closure of Sheffield House, Atari sold a majority of Gremlin Interactive's catalogue alongside their brand, logo and trademark, to Zoo Digital Publishing, a then-new publisher founded by Gremlin co-founder Ian Stewart.[75] On December 18, Atari announced that they would shutter Legend Entertainment in January 2004.[76]

Atari continued to close and sell off franchises in 2004. On March 30, the company shuttered its Minneapolis development studio, formerly WizardWorks, and announced that its titles such as the Deer Hunter franchise would transition off to Atari Interactive.[77] On July 29, 2004, Epic Games announced that it had ended its publishing agreement with Atari, Inc. for the Unreal, and instead signed a new three-game publishing deal with Midway, beginning with Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict in 2005. Atari would continue to publish the existing Unreal back catalog.[78][79] On November 25, 2004, Infogrames Entertainment SA announced they had sold the Civilization franchise to an undisclosed buyer for $22.3 million.,[80]

An official simplified organizational chart of the company as of end 2005

In January 2005, it was revealed that the buyer for the Civilization franchise was Take-Two Interactive, who acquired distribution rights to the then-upcoming title Civilization IV under their 2K label.[81] On February 10, Atari announced the closure of their Santa Monica and Beverly publishing offices and that publishing would be reassigned to their main North American offices in New York City.[82] On May 2, after signing a new deal with Firaxis Games, 2K announced that they had fully acquired from Atari the full Civilization and prior back catalog of titles. They also announced that they had acquired the publishing rights to the then-recent Sid Meier's Pirates!.[83][84]

On June 9, Hasbro announced they had purchased back Atari's exclusive digital gaming rights to their properties for $65 million.[85][45][86] As part of the sale, Hasbro purchased back the video game rights to the Transformers, My Little Pony, Tonka, Magic: The Gathering, Connect Four, Candy Land and Playskool franchises and brands, while Atari would obtain a seven-year exclusive agreement to produce video games based on select Hasbro board games, including Monopoly, Scrabble, The Game of Life, Battleship, Clue, Yahtzee, Simon, Risk and Boggle. Hasbro also secured a separate deal with Atari for the expansion of their Dungeons & Dragons license. On August 22, Atari, Inc. sold Humongous Entertainment to Infogrames Entertainment SA for shares worth US$10.3 million. With this, Infogrames laid off all remaining employees at the company and transferred the Humongous assets to a self-owned subsidiary Humongous, Inc. with intentions to sell off the assets outright.[87] Atari would continue to distribute the company's titles for a period until March 2006, and was later extended to March 2007.[88]

During this period, Atari's most profitable titles in the North American market were Dragon Ball games, which accounted for the largest share of Atari's earnings at the time.[89][90]

Profit losses (2006–2008)

[edit]

Infogrames through the remainder of 2006[clarification needed] sold intellectual properties and some studios in order to raise cash and stave off the threat of bankruptcy.[91] On May 10, 2006, the company began their sales of their studios and properties with the sale of the Games.com website to AOL,[92] Paradigm Entertainment and the Stuntman franchise to THQ[93] and the publishing rights to TimeShift to Vivendi Games. The sales generated $25 million in revenue.[94] On June 17, Midway acquired the back publishing rights to the Unreal back catalog from Infogrames and Atari.[95] In July, Reflections Interactive and the Driver franchise were sold to Ubisoft for $21.6 million.[96] On September 1, Atari, Inc. announced that its stock faced delisting from the Nasdaq stock exchange due to its price having fallen below $1.00.[97]

On September 5, 2006, David Pierce was appointed as new CEO of Atari, replacing Bruno Bonnell. Pierce previously worked as an executive at Universal Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and Sony Wonder.[98] On October 2, Shiny Entertainment was acquired by Foundation 9 Entertainment for $1.6 million.[96][99] The last studio put up for sale - Atari Melbourne House, was sold to Krome Studios in November, and was renamed to Krome Studios Melbourne.[39] Atari retained ownership of Eden Games, while Infogrames still held the assets of Humongous, Inc.

In April 2007, Infogrames' founding chairman Bruno Bonnell left the company after 24 years; on the day of the announcement of is departure IESA's shares jumped 24%.[100] In the same year, Infogrames fired the majority of Atari's directors and laid off 20% of its workforce. For the 2006–2007 fiscal year, Atari posted a net loss of $70 million.[101] In July 2007, Atari sold their exclusive licensing deal with Hasbro back to them for $19 million,[102] which concluded with Hasbro signing a new casual game deal with Electronic Arts a month later.[103] On November 7, GameSpot reported that Atari was beginning to run out of money, losing 12 million dollars in the first fiscal quarter of 2008.[104]

Merger with Atari, Inc. and asset selling to Namco Bandai Games (2008–2009)

[edit]

On 6 March 2008, Infogrames made an offer to Atari Inc. to buy out all remaining public shares for a value of US$1.68 per share or US$11 million total. The offer would make Infogrames the sole owner of Atari Inc., making it a privately held company.[105] On 30 April, Atari Inc. announced its intentions to accept Infogrames' buyout offer and merge with Infogrames,[106] which was completed by October 9.[107] With that acquisition Infogrames was the only owner of the Atari brand.[108] Infogrames said that it planned to reduce administrative costs and to focus on online gaming.[109] On May 9, 2008, it was revealed that NASDAQ would be removing Atari from the NASDAQ stock exchange.[110] Atari has stated its intentions to appeal the decision. Atari was notified of NASDAQ's final decision on April 24, 2008, and the appeal hearing took place on May 1, 2008. Atari was expected to raise its value to $15 million USD from the period of December 20, 2007 through to March 2008. Atari received notice of its absolute delisting on September 12, 2008.[111]

In September 2008, Namco Bandai Games and Infogrames formed a joint venture called Distribution Partners.[112] Distribution Partners was defined by Infogrames as a regrouping of "Infogrames' distribution operations in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America."[113] This new entity consisted mainly of Infograme's distribution network in the PAL region.[114] Distribution Partners was 34% owned by Namco Bandai and 66% owned by Atari.[113] Later in May 2009, Namco Bandai acquired Atari Europe from Infogrames.[115] Its sale and marketing personnel were transferred to Distribution Partners.[115] In March 2009, Infogrames announced that it was getting out of the distribution business in the PAL region with its decision to sell its 66% stake at Distribution Partners.[112] According to an Infogrames press-release, this sale allowed "Atari to focus its financial resources and creative energy exclusively on developing and publishing online-enabled games".[116] In July, the deal valued at €37 million was completed;[117] Distribution Partners was renamed to Namco Bandai Partners. At that time the company had operations in 50 countries and 17 dedicated offices.[118]

In December 2008, Infogrames bought Cryptic Studios for $26.7 million in cash plus performance bonuses. Cryptic Studios is a massively multiplayer online game developer and its acquisition is in line with the company's new business strategy which focuses on online games.[119]

Despite restructuring, Infogrames continued to struggle to become profitable. For the 2008 fiscal year the company posted €51.1 million ($72.17 million) in net losses and for the 2009 fiscal year, which ended in March, Infogrames posted losses of €226.1 million ($319.33 million).[120]

Rebranding to Atari SA (2009–2013)

[edit]

During their fiscal year meeting in May 2009, IESA announced that it would be changing its corporate name to an Atari branded name, in line with the use of the name for its subsidiaries. In reference to this, Atari, Inc.'s CEO Jim Wilson said: "We've gotten rid of the Infogrames and Atari duality, the confusion around that. We are one simplified company, under one management team, under one brand."[121]

Infogrames' 29 May earnings report stated:

"The Board agreed to change Infogrames Entertainment's name to Atari. This decision will enable us to make the best use of the Atari brand, capitalising on worldwide strong name recognition and affinity, which are keys drivers to implement the Company's online, product and licensing strategies."[122]

An earnings press release on 24 July 2009 also provided clarification regarding the ensuing name change that was initially announced some two months prior, rebranding themselves as Atari, SA from Infogrames Entertainment, SA. Furthermore, this release also stated their intentions of henceforth utilising the much more recognisable 'Atari Group' moniker with all Atari-related brands and similar such subsidiaries already under their control.[123]

On 21 October 2010, Atari announced Atari's reference shareholders BlueBay Value Recovery (Master) Fund Limited and BlueBay Multi-Strategy (Master) Fund Limited are exploring a disposal of the shares and equity-linked instruments held by them.[124] However, BlueBay shareholders later interrupted the sale process of its holding in Atari.[125] BlueBay later converted the conversion of a portion of the ORANEs held by them.[126]

On April 4, 2012, Glu Mobile acquired the Deer Hunter franchise from Atari.[127] On April 12, Eden Games began negotiations as an attempt to separate from Atari SA[128] following a prior strike after Atari laid off a majority of the studios' employees the prior April.[129] On September 28, Atari, SA, BlueBay Value Recovery (Master) Fund Limited, and The BlueBay Multi-Strategy (Master) Fund Limited reached an agreement following their negotiations regarding the restructuring of the debt and capital structure of the Atari group. As part of the agreement, the €20.9 million Credit Facility Agreement was extinguished via €10.9 million loan forgiveness from BlueBay Value Recovery (Master) Fund Limited and Atari's payment of €10 million; the cancellation of the dilutive effect of the ORANEs held by BlueBay; €20 million capital increases to be submitted to the vote of Atari shareholders (of which €10 million with preferential subscription right).[130]

Chapter 11 bankruptcy and auction (2013–2014)

[edit]

On 21 January 2013, the North American divisions of Atari SA - Atari, Inc., Atari Interactive, Inc., Humongous, Inc. and California US Holdings, Inc. all filed petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.[131] The following week on January 29, Eden Games filed for judicial liquidation, effectively closing the studio down.[132] On May 23, Atari announced that they would sell their game assets, developers, the famous "Fuji" logo, and the Atari name in a bankruptcy auction.[133] Prior to the bankruptcy sale in July, Nordic Games purchased the Desperados franchise and Silver on June 24[134] while Appeal Studios purchased the full rights to Outcast on July 4.[135]

The company's bankruptcy sale took place on July 22, 2013, leading to different titles gaining new homes. A majority of Atari's assets were sold to Tommo, which included a portfolio of over 100 titles and IPs mostly belonging to Accolade and MicroProse, Atari's Math Gran Prix, Humongous Entertainment's "Junior Adventure" titles, and the Accolade and GT Interactive brands.[136] Other companies that bought assets were Rebellion Developments purchasing Atari's Battlezone franchise and Humongous title MoonBase Commander,[136] Devolver Digital purchasing Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Epic Gear LLC (and later Day 6 Sports Group LLC) purchasing the Backyard Sports franchise,[136] Wargaming purchasing the Total Annihilation and Master of Orion franchises, and Stardock purchasing Star Control.[136] The Test Drive franchise and publishing rights to the RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise were also put up for sale, although no bids were offered for either franchise.[136] In October, Eden Games reopened as an independent developer by its founder, David Nadal.[137]

Turnaround strategy and continuing sale of assets (2014–2020)

[edit]

In 2014, all three of the North American Atari subsidiaries emerged from bankruptcy under the ownership of Frédéric Chesnais, who headed the slimmed-down companies with their entire operations consisting of a staff of 10 people. Atari announced in March that they had entered the social casino gaming industry with the launch of Atari Casino.[138][139] In 2015, Atari announced a new turnaround strategy that would focus on "download games, MMO games, mobile games and licensing activities, based in priority around traditional franchises."[140][non-primary source needed] Projects within the strategy included Alone in the Dark: Illumination, RollerCoaster Tycoon World, and a mobile game based on Lunar Lander.

On December 14, 2016, fellow-French publisher Bigben Interactive announced they had purchased the Test Drive franchise from Atari. The deal allowed for BigBen to publish new installments in the franchise, while Atari would retain all rights to previous entries in the franchise.[141]

On January 3, 2017, TMZ reported that Frontier Developments, the developer for RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, sued Atari, Inc. for not paying the company enough for royalties for the game; Frontier reported that they only received $1.17 million when they needed $3.37 million. Frontier's Chief Operating Officer David Walsh confirmed the report in a GameSpot interview, stating that they had previously attempted to resolve the issue without legal action since April 2016.[142] In 2017, Piko Interactive acquired several titles from Atari: 40 Winks, Bubble Ghost, Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess, Death Gate, Drakkhen, Eternam, Glover, Monty Mole, Hostage: Rescue Mission, Marco Polo and Time Gate: Knight's Chase.[143][144][145][146][147] On June 8, a short teaser video was released, promoting a new product;[148][non-primary source needed] and the following week CEO Fred Chesnais confirmed the company was developing a new game console – the hardware was stated to be based on PC technology, and be still under development.[149]

In mid July 2017 an Atari press release confirmed the existence of new hardware, referred to as the Ataribox. The casing design was inspired by the original Atari 2600, with a ribbed top surface, and a rise at the back of the console.[150] According to an official company statement of 22 June 2017 the product was to initially launch via a crowdfunding campaign in order to minimize financial risk to the parent company.[151] In March 2018, the Ataribox was renamed the Atari VCS and it was released in June 2021. It was developed by a new subsidiary based in the U.S., named Atari VCS, LLC.[152] Within the same month, it was revealed that Atari had also sold the V-Rally series to BigBen Interactive with an announcement of a new entry in the franchise from the latter.[153] On 19 September, THQ Nordic announced they had acquired the Alone in the Dark franchise and Act of War.[154]

New leadership, Infogrames revival and acquisitions (2020–present)

[edit]

In March 2020, Wade Rosen, the founder of Ziggurat Interactive, became the new chair of the board of directors upon purchasing a substantial share of the company from Chesnais.[155] Within that year, the company launched the Atari Token Cryptocurrency the Atari Token was launched by Atari,[156] in equal partnership with the ICICB Group.[157] The group was licensed to launch an online gaming platform using crypto currencies, including the Atari Token.[158][159] Also, Ziggurat Interactive acquired dozens of ex-Atari-owned titles, including Deadly Dozen.[160]

In March 2021, Atari extended its partnership with ICICB Group for the development of Atari branded hotels, with the first hotels to be constructed in Dubai, Gibraltar and Spain.[161][162][163][164][165] The licensing agreement includes potential additional countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia.[166] In April, Rosen replaced Chesnais as CEO and restructured the company into two units: Atari Gaming, who will focus on video games, and Atari Blockchain, who will focus on blockchain and other businesses.[167] On July 5, 2021, Atari Gaming announced a plan to fully reenter the console and handheld game publishing industry and reduce emphasis on free-to-play and mobile games, leading to possible titles being closed or sold, alongside the closure of Atari Casino.[168] Chesnais later resigned from the company, though remained as a consultant through his new company, Crypto Blockchain Industries (CBI).[169] On November 24, Atari announced they had invested $500,000 in retro gaming streaming platform Antstream, and a deal to potentially purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million through to the end of March 2022.[170] The purchase was completed on March 8, 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[171]

In March 2022, Atari ended all ties with former CEO Chesnais and CBI.[172] The following month, they also announced the termination of all license agreements with ICICB, including the end of hotel licenses, and the dissolution of their blockchain joint venture. The Atari Token was disclaimed as "unlicensed" and a replacement would be developed.[173]

In 2023, Atari began a series of IP acquisitions. In March, they acquired the intellectual property rights to 12 Stern Electronics titles, including Berzerk and Frenzy.[174] Later that month, Atari announced that it would acquire Nightdive Studios for $10 million. Nightdive had released several ports and remasters of Atari's divested games.[175] The following month, they had re-acquired over one hundred video games from the Accolade, MicroProse, GT Interactive, and Infogrames catalogues that were formerly owned by Tommo/Billionsoft. This included the Bubsy series and the Accolade and GT Interactive brands.[176] The copyright and trademarks of these titles transitioned to a holding business named GT Interactive, LLC.[177] In May, the company obtained rights for over a dozen M Network games, including Armor Ambush, Astroblast, Frogs and Flies, Space Attack, and Star Strike.[178] Within the latter part of 2023, the company also formed a partnership with and made a minority investment into Playmaji, Inc. the company behind the Polymega retro console,[179][180] acquired AtariAge, a website dedicated to the history of Atari games,[181] Awesomenauts and Swords & Soldiers from Ronimo Games and Digital Eclipse, a developer that specialized in remakes of older games.[182]

On April 2, 2024, Atari re-purchased the publishing rights to RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 from Frontier Developments as part of RollerCoaster Tycoon's 25th anniversary, giving Atari full publishing control of the series once more.[183] Later that month, Atari relaunched the Infogrames brand as a second publishing label to publish titles outside the main Atari brands, along with the acquisition of Totally Reliable Delivery Service from tinyBuild, to be published under the new label.[184][9] Atari also took a 7.9% ownership stake in tinyBuild around the same time.[185] On May 23, Atari announced the acquisition of the Intellivision brand name and its game library from Intellivision Entertainment. This respective company and the Amico console were not included in the sale, and would be renamed. The company would secure a licensing deal with Atari to continue to release updated versions of the Intellivision catalog on the system.[186][187] On 26 June 2024, Infogrames acquired the Surgeon Simulator IP from tinyBuild.[188] On 1 November 2024, Atari acquired Transport Tycoon from Chris Sawyer[189] and was followed with Infogrames acquiring the publishing rights to Bread & Fred from Apogee Entertainment.[190]

Subsidiaries

[edit]

Current

[edit]
Name Location Founded Acquired Ref.
AtariAge United States 1998 2023 [191]
Atari Europe S.A.S.U. Lyon, France 1992
Atari, Inc. New York City, United States 1993 1999
Atari Interactive New York City, United States 1995 2001 [192]
Atari Japan KK Japan 2000 [193]
Atari VCS, LLC United States 2017
Digital Eclipse Emeryville, United States 1992 2023 [194]
GT Interactive, LLC New York City, United States 2023 [195]
Infogrames, LLC Los Angeles, United States 2024
MobyGames United States 1999 2022 [196]
Nightdive Studios Vancouver, United States 2012 2023 [197]

Former

[edit]

Development

[edit]

Information about developers owned by Atari, Inc. and Atari Interactive are listed on their pages.

Name Location Acquired/established Closed/divested Fate Ref[198]
Atari Studios Asia Australia 1999 unknown Closed by Atari [199]
Atari Melbourne House Melbourne, Australia 1999 2000 Acquired as Melbourne House; ownership transitioned to Atari, Inc. the following year [200]
Cryptic Studios Los Gatos, United States 2008 2011 Sold to Perfect World
DMA Design Dundee, Scotland, 1999 1999 Acquired in Gremlin Interactive purchase; sold to Take-Two Interactive [201]
Eden Games Lyon, France 2002 2013 Acquired as Eden Studios; filed for judicial liquidation in January 2013; later re-opened in October 2013 and now owned by Animoca Brands
Humongous, Inc. United States 2006 2013 Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, assets sold to Tommo
Infogrames Lyon House Lyon, France 1998 2002 Closed by Infogrames [202]
Infogrames Sheffield House Sheffield, United Kingdom 1999 2003 Acquired as Gremlin Interactive; closed [203]

Publishing/Distribution Arms

[edit]
Name Location Acquired/established Divested Fate Ref.[198]
A+ Multimedia Ltda Portugal 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari do Brasil Ltda. Brazil 1998 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari France S.A.S. France 1991 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Italia S.p.A. Italy 1994 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Ibérica S.A. Spain N/A 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Nordic AB Denmark 2001 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games [204]
Atari Bénélux B.V. Brussels, Netherlands 1994 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Hellas EURL Greece 2000 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari United Kingdom Limited Manchester, England 1996 2009 Acquired in Ocean International Ltd. purchase as Ocean Software; sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Deutschland GmbH Germany 1996 2009 Acquired in Laguna Video Games purchase as Bomico Entertainment Software; sold to Namco Bandai Games [21][205]
Atari Israel Ltd. Israel 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Asia Pacific Pty, Ltd. Australia 2000 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games [206]
Atari Korea Ltd. Korea 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Taiwan Ltd. Taiwan 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Singapore Pty, Ltd. Singapore 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Hong Kong Ltd. Hong Kong 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games
Atari Australia Pty, Ltd. Sydney, Australia 1998 (Minority Stake)
2002 (Full)
2009 Acquired as OziSoft; sold to Namco Bandai Games [207][208]
Atari NZ Limited New Zealand 1998 (Minority Stake)
2002 (Full)
2009 Acquired as OziSoft NZ; sold to Namco Bandai Games [209]
Distribution Partners SAS France 2008 2009 Sold to Namco Bandai Games [198]
Infogrames Entertainment, Inc. San Jose, United States 1996 1999 Acquired in Ocean International Ltd. purchase as Ocean of America, Inc.; Folded into Infogrames North America
Infogrames Limited United Kingdom Closed [210]
Infogrames North America, Inc. San Jose, United States 1999 2000 Acquired as Accolade; folded into Infogrames, Inc.
Philips Media BV Eindhoven, Netherlands 1997 1997 Folded following purchase

Game franchises owned by Atari SA

[edit]

As of 2018, Atari SA owns the rights to the following games and game franchises. The majority of these are original works by Atari, Hasbro Interactive or Infogrames, however the most notable outside of these are a large number of intellectual properties formerly belonging to Ocean Software, to which Atari SA never lost the rights. Some former franchises, such as Test Drive and Alone in the Dark, have since been sold.

Original IPs

[edit]
  • Citytopia (Atari, Inc.)
  • Days of Doom (Atari, Inc.)
  • Lunar Battle (Atari, Inc.)
  • Mob Empire (Atari, Inc.)

Titles from Atari, Inc. (1972–1984)

[edit]

Titles from Atari Corporation

[edit]

Titles from Accolade

[edit]

Titles from GT Interactive

[edit]

Titles from Ocean Software

[edit]

Titles from Infogrames

[edit]

Titles from MicroProse

[edit]

Titles from Hasbro Interactive

[edit]

Titles from Nightdive Studios

[edit]

Titles from Intellivision

[edit]

Other

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "HY 2023-2024 financial report" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  2. ^ "About Atari GOVERNANCE". ATARI Investisseurs. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  3. ^ https://www.reuters.com/article/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/atari-group-adds-new-major-shareholder-idUSFWN2BG1ZU/
  4. ^ "ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT 2016/2017" (PDF) (Press release). p. 11.
  5. ^ "Game almost over as Atari goes bankrupt". The Australian. 23 January 2013.
  6. ^ Shriber, Todd (6 July 2021). "Atari Online Casino Scrapped as Company Focuses on Premium Games". Casino.org. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Presentation of Infogrames by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet". Institut national de l'audiovisuel. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b Excerpt Archived 17 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine from Daniel Ichbiah, La saga des jeux vidéo. Vuibert. 2004. ISBN 2-7117-4825-1 (in French)
  9. ^ a b Scullion, Chris (23 April 2024). "Atari has brought back the Infogrames brand as a publishing label". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  10. ^ Fahs, Traves. Alone in the Dark Restrospective[sic], IGN, 23 June 2008
  11. ^ "Infogrames Has Stake Acquired by Dassault".
  12. ^ "Philips Media Buys 20% Stake in Infogrames Entertainment". August 1995. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Infogrames Launches Infogrames.com" (Press release). PR Newswire. 16 February 2000. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  14. ^ a b c "The Euro Vision: 'Bye-Bye Bruno'". Gamasutra. 11 April 2007. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Mergers & Acquisitions — UK News 1996". Ukbusinesspark.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  16. ^ "European Super Publisher Emerges". Next Generation. No. 19. July 1996. p. 21.
  17. ^ "Index Summary". www.oceanline.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 1998. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  18. ^ NOYER, Stanislas. "Les malheurs de Philips font le bonheur d'InfogramesLe géant néerlandais solde ses logiciels de jeu au francais". Libération (in French). Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  19. ^ Staff writer (February 3, 1997). "Philips Media Transferred Multimedia Assets to Infogrames". Business Wire. San Jose, California. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013 – via The Free Library.
  20. ^ "Infogrames to Acquire Philips Media".
  21. ^ a b "OGDB - Firmenübersicht: Bomico Entertainment Software GMBH".
  22. ^ "OGDB - Firmenübersicht: Laguna Video Games".
  23. ^ "Telecompaper". www.telecompaper.com. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  24. ^ I. G. N. Staff (30 January 1998). "What do the French Know About Bugs Bunny?". IGN. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  25. ^ "Infogrames in Milia spotlight - Variety". 9 February 1998.
  26. ^ "BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT UK LTD. - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  27. ^ "Infogrames Entertainment, 333 W. Santa Clara St. Suite 820, San Jose, California, United States | Company-Datas.Com -Find a Company Data". company-datas.com.
  28. ^ "Infogrames Entertainment" (PDF). mocagh.org.
  29. ^ Boehm, Erich (9 February 1998). "Infogrames in Milia spotlight". Variety. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  30. ^ "Portail d'informations". Claimexam.com. 5 August 1973. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  31. ^ a b c d "Infogrames Entertainment Annual Report 99" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  32. ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions — Atari Australia". Atari.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  33. ^ "Infogrames et Canal+ s'associent pour développer des jeux interactifs". 10 February 1999.
  34. ^ "Infogrames Buys UK Games Company Gremlin". TheFreeLibrary.com. 1999. Archived from the original on 16 May 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  35. ^ "Psygnosis France Staff Snagged". 2 April 1999.
  36. ^ "France's Infogrames Grows in US With $60m Accolade Buy | Computergram International | Find Articles at BNET.com". Findarticles.com. 1999. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  37. ^ "Chronology of Video Game Systems (1999)". Islandnet.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  38. ^ Graser, Marc (24 June 1999). "Bugs hopping to 3D". Variety. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  39. ^ a b c "Krome Studios Melbourne". MobyGames. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  40. ^ "Infogrames Gets Control of GT Interactive — New York Times". The New York Times. 16 November 1999. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  41. ^ "GT Interactive Software — Company History". Fundinguniverse.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  42. ^ Bates, Bob (2004). Game Design, Second Edition: Bob Bates: Books. ISBN 1592004938.
  43. ^ "Gt Interactive Hires Disney Honcho, Raises Cash". Atnewyork.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2002. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  44. ^ "Cavedog Caves In". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  45. ^ a b "Microsoft Word — couverture_GB.doc" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  46. ^ "Infogrames buys Paradigm". Eurogamer.net. 30 June 2000. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  47. ^ a b c "Atari UK Ltd". MobyGames. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  48. ^ "Infogrames Speaks out on the Eidos Situation".
  49. ^ "Infogrames to Acquire Hasbro Interactive". IGN. 6 December 2000. Archived from the original on 19 November 2001. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  50. ^ "Press Release". Nasdaq Investor Relations. 6 December 2000.[permanent dead link]
  51. ^ "Infogrames Picks up Hasbro's Toys". IGN. 7 December 2000. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  52. ^ a b "Infogrames Entertainment to Acquire Hasbro Interactive and Games.com".[permanent dead link] Press release archive from Thomson Financial
  53. ^ "Company News; Hasbro Completes Sale Of Interactive Business". The New York Times. 30 January 2001.
  54. ^ a b "( Atari Interactive, Inc. > Overview )". allgame. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  55. ^ "Infogrames ready to ship first games under Atari brand". gamespot.com. 31 October 2001. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  56. ^ "Infogrames uk". www.infogrames.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 February 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  57. ^ "Infogrames promotes Atari brand in Japan".
  58. ^ "Infogrames Acquires both Shiny Entertainment and Exclusive Matrix License". Pc.gamezone.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  59. ^ "Ozisoft becomes Infogrames Australia: News — Business — ZDNet Australia". Zdnet.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  60. ^ Gamespot.com Archived January 23, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, "Infogrames closes UK MicroProse studio", from GameSpot
  61. ^ "Last lap for Microprose UK studio". Eurogamer.net. 16 September 2002.
  62. ^ "Infogrames to Cut Jobs, Close Sites, Sources Say". Los Angeles Times. October 2002.
  63. ^ "Jeux vidéo : Le réveil des start-up". 9 December 2002.
  64. ^ Strohm, Axel (22 October 2002). "Infogrames buys Eden Studios — PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot". gamespot.com.
  65. ^ "Destineer acquires MacSoft". 30 January 2003.
  66. ^ "Q&A: Tamte on Destineer's Four-Pronged Approach". 21 May 2007.
  67. ^ "Infogrames Sells MacSoft To Destineer, Peter Tamte Once Again In Charge Of Mac Gaming Publisher". macobserver.com. 30 January 2003. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  68. ^ "Destineer buys MacSoft from Infogrames".
  69. ^ "Atari Inc – 10-KT — For 3/31/03". SEC Info. Archived from the original on 27 January 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  70. ^ a b c "Yahoo Finance - Stock Market Live, Quotes, Business & Finance News". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  71. ^ "ATARI, INC". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  72. ^ "Infogrames GB". Corporate.infogrames.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  73. ^ Atari closes former MicroProse studio from GamesIndustry.biz
  74. ^ Thorsen, Tor (18 December 2003). "Atari closes Legend Entertainment". gamespot.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  75. ^ "Investegate |Zoo Digital Group Announcements | Zoo Digital Group: Acquisition". Archived from the original on 4 January 2022.
  76. ^ Thorsen, Tor (18 December 2003). "Atari closes Legend Entertainment — PC News at GameSpot". Gamespot.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  77. ^ Feldman, Curt (29 March 2004). "Deer Hunter Publisher Shuttered". GameSpot. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  78. ^ "Epic brings Unreal franchise to Midway". 29 July 2004.
  79. ^ Game Over is a weekly column by Chris Morris (17 June 2005). "The sad, slow fall of Atari — Jun. 17, 2005". Money.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  80. ^ "Infogrames sells Civilisation franchise for $22.3m". Eurogamer.net. 25 November 2004.
  81. ^ "Take-Two takes over Civilization". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  82. ^ "Atari to close Santa Monica, Mass. operations". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  83. ^ "2K Games claims Pirates!".
  84. ^ Thorsen, Tor (25 October 2005). "Take-Two takes over Civilization". gamespot.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  85. ^ Hasbro buys back digital rights from Infogrames from MCVUK.com
  86. ^ Thorsen, Tor (9 June 2005). "Atari locks down D&D; Hasbro buys back Transformers". GameSpot.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  87. ^ "Atari Sells Humongous to Infogrames for $10.3 Million". Business Week. 28 August 2005. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  88. ^ "Form 10-K". Atari, Inc. 29 June 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2023 – via Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval.
  89. ^ "Atari, Inc. – 10-K Annual Report - 03/31/2005". Get Filings. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 10 June 2005. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  90. ^ "Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Atari. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  91. ^ Brightman, James (17 February 2006). "Video Game Features, PC Game Features". Gamedaily.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  92. ^ AOL buys Games.com gigaom.com Archived 16 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  93. ^ "THQ buys Paradigm and Stuntman // News // GamesIndustry.biz". Gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  94. ^ "E3: Atari, Infogrames Sell Stuntman, Timeshift, Games.com, Para". Game Developer. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  95. ^ "Midway acquires rights to Epic back catalogue". 11 July 2023.
  96. ^ a b Thorsen, Tor (9 November 2006). "Cost-cutting puts Atari in black-barely — Xbox 360 News at GameSpot .com". Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  97. ^ Carless, Simon (1 September 2006). "Atari to Fight NASDAQ Delisting Notice". Gamasutra. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  98. ^ "Atari Names New CEO". IGN. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012.
  99. ^ Foundation 9 Acquires Shiny From Atari Archived 4 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine, GamaSutra, 2 October 2006
  100. ^ "Infogrames shares shine after chairman leaves | Reuters". Reuters. 5 April 2007. Archived from the original on 10 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  101. ^ Magrino, Tom (8 October 2007). "Infogrames overhauls Atari's board". gamespot.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  102. ^ "EA, Hasbro enter into casual relationship".
  103. ^ "EA and Hasbro Partner to Bring Casual Games to Global Audience | Hasbro, Inc".
  104. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (November 7, 2007). Atari running out of quarters?. GameSpot. Retrieved on November 7, 2007.
  105. ^ Atari, Inc. Reports Receipt of Non-Binding Offer from Infogrames Entertainment S.A.: Financial News Yahoo! Finance Archived 29 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  106. ^ Infogrames Entertainment S.A. and Atari, Inc. Announce Agreement to Merge: Financial News Yahoo! Finance Archived 27 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  107. ^ "Atari GB". Corporate.infogrames.com. 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  108. ^ "Infogrames completes Atari Inc acquisition // News". Gamesindustry.biz. 11 October 2008. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  109. ^ Magrino, Tom (13 October 2008). "Infogrames concludes Atari acquisition". gamespot.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  110. ^ "Atari Booted from Nasdaq". edge-online.com. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  111. ^ Delisting of Securities of Atari, Inc. From the NASDAQ Stock Market Archived 7 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine Source: The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. - GlobeNewswire, Inc.
  112. ^ a b "News — Infogrames And Namco Bandai Team Up For Distribution Deal". Gamasutra. 9 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  113. ^ a b "Signature with Namco Bandai Games Europe of a definitive agreement establishing strategic partnership for distribution operations in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Africa" (PDF). Infogrames. 3 February 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  114. ^ "Infogrames strikes Namco Bandai deal | Games Industry | MCV". Mcvuk.com. 9 September 2008.
  115. ^ a b "Goodbye Atari, hello Namco | Games Industry | MCV". Mcvuk.com. 14 May 2009.
  116. ^ "INFOGRAMES TO ACCELERATE ITS TRANSFORMATION INTO A CONTENT-LED ONLINE GAME COMPANY BY SELLING ITS REMAINING 66% STAKE IN "DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS" TO STRATEGIC PARTNER NAMCO BANDAI GAMES EUROPE" (PDF). Infogrames. 25 March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  117. ^ "Atari announces the signing of the divestiture of its remaining 66% stake in Distribution Partners" (PDF). Atari. 2 July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  118. ^ "Namco completes takeover of Atari distribution business // News". Gamesindustry.biz. 7 July 2009. Archived from the original on 23 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  119. ^ "Atari acquires Cryptic Studios // News". Gamesindustry.biz. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  120. ^ "News — Infogrames Renames To Atari, Posts Heavy Losses, Envisages Profit". Gamasutra. 29 May 2009. Archived from the original on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  121. ^ Haywald, Justin (29 May 2009). "Atari Sheds Infogrames Branding". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  122. ^ "Infogrames Entertainment Fiscal Year 2008/2009 Earnings" (PDF). Infogrames. 29 May 2009.
  123. ^ "Atari announces 30.1% revenue growth to €54.5 million for the 1st quarter of fiscal year 2009/2010" (PDF). Atari SA. 24 July 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  124. ^ "ATARI: Atari: Proposed transfer by BlueBay of its holding in ATARI". Reuters. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  125. ^ "BlueBay to interrupt the sale process of its holding in Atari". Reuters. 31 January 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  126. ^ "1 ST HALF OF FY 2011/2012 RESULTS" (PDF). Atari SA. 8 November 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  127. ^ "Glu Mobile Acquires Deer Hunter® Brand" (Press release). 4 April 2012.
  128. ^ "Atari se sépare d'Eden Games". 11 May 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  129. ^ Maria Kalash et Netsabes, Le Salaire du labeur, 15 février 2018, Canard PC n°375.
  130. ^ "Atari SA and BlueBay reached a agreement for the restructuring of the debt and capital structure of the group" (PDF). Atari SA. 28 September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  131. ^ "Atari Files For Chapter 11 To Separate From French Parent". PR Newswire. 21 January 2013. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  132. ^ "EDEN GAMES (LYON 3EME) Chiffre d'affaires, résultat, bilans sur SOCIETE.COM - 414659607". www.societe.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  133. ^ Matthew, Handrahan (23 May 2013). "Atari seeks $22.2 million in bankruptcy auctions". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  134. ^ "Nordic Games acquires rights to Atari's Desperados and Silver". Polygon. 24 June 2013.
  135. ^ "Outcast dev acquires IP from Atari". MCV. 15 May 2019.
  136. ^ a b c d e Lee, Aaron (22 July 2013). "Wargaming and Rebellion claim Atari IPs". MCV. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  137. ^ Beecham, Matthew (16 January 2017). "Eden Games gears up for mobile devices". Just-auto.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  138. ^ Brett Molina (26 March 2014). "Atari resets with jump into social casino gaming". USA Today. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  139. ^ "Atari and FlowPlay team up to offer social casino games – GamesBeat – Games – by Dean Takahashi". VentureBeat. 26 March 2014. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  140. ^ "2014-15 full-year consolidated earnings" (PDF). Atari SA. 29 June 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  141. ^ Kerr, Chris (15 December 2016). "Bigben Interactive acquires rights to the Test Drive brand from Atari". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  142. ^ Hussain, Tamoor (3 January 2017). "Atari Being Sued for Alleged Unpaid Rollercoaster Tycoon Royalties". GameSpot. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  143. ^ Dring, Christopher (22 February 2018). "Why release a new N64 game in 2018?". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  144. ^ "Classics Digital". Gamasutra (Press release). 18 January 2017. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  145. ^ Estrada, Marcus (3 January 2018). "DOS Adventure Death Gate Now Available on GOG". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  146. ^ "Happy 2018! Important Announcements for 2018 and the Future". pikointeractive.com. 2 January 2018. Archived from the original on 19 February 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  147. ^ Bucacek, Jacob (17 April 2018). "Glover Might See A Comeback Soon". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  148. ^ "First look: A brand new Atari product. Years in the making", Ataribox, 8 June 2017, archived from the original on 18 July 2017, retrieved 17 July 2017 – via YouTube
  149. ^ Takahashi, Dean (16 June 2017). "Atari CEO confirms the company is working on a new game console". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  150. ^ Walker, Alex (18 July 2017). "The First Look At The Ataribox, Atari's New Console". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on 17 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  151. ^ "Le Groupe Atari réaffirme sa stratégie de croissance rentable à l'issue du salon des jeux vidéo E3 de juin 2017" (PDF) (Press release) (in French). Atari SA. 22 June 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2017. Le 30 mai 2017, à l'occasion de la publication de son chiffre d'affaires annuel, le groupe Atari a annoncé la "(...) préparation d'une campagne de relations publiques et de crowdfunding pour tester la viabilité d'un nouveau produit hardware pour les jeux vidéo". Le Groupe a depuis diffusé une vidéo dévoilant un premier design de ce nouveau produit, dont les fonctionnalités et les caractéristiques techniques seront annoncées selon l'avancement des travaux. www.ataribox.com Le Groupe estime qu'il est en mesure de développer un produit attrayant, utilisant la notoriété de la marque Atari dans le domaine du hardware. Pour limiter la prise de risque, ce produit sera initialement lancé dans le cadre d'une campagne de crowdfunding.
  152. ^ "Terms of Use". Atari®. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  153. ^ Walsh, Alan (13 March 2018). "V-Rally 4 Revives Long Dormant Off-Road Racing Series This September For PC & Consoles". FullThrottle Media. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  154. ^ Wales, Matt (19 September 2018). "THQ Nordic has now acquired survival horror classic Alone In The Dark". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  155. ^ "Atari: Addition of New Major Shareholder" (PDF). 24 March 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  156. ^ "Atari Teams Up with Arkane Network to Integrate the Atari Token Across Digital Entertainment Ecosystem". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). 14 May 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  157. ^ MarketScreener (10 March 2021). "Atari :® Partners with ICICB Group and Grants Licensing Rights to Build Atari : Hotels in Dubai, Gibraltar, and Spain | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  158. ^ Hainzinger, Brittany. "Atari expands partnership with Chain Games". App Developer Magazine. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  159. ^ "Crypto Currency Casino Launch One Of 2020 Goals For Atari Group". GamblingNews. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  160. ^ "New Gaming Publisher Ziggurat Interactive to Bring Massive List of Classic and New Games to Modern Platforms" (Press release). 3 March 2020.
  161. ^ "Teams Up with Karma the Game of Destiny to Support In-Game Purchases Using Atari Token". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  162. ^ "Atari, ICICB Group Expand Hotel Partnership". licenseglobal.com (Press release). 23 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  163. ^ "ATARI: Atari® Partners with ICICB Group and Grants Licensing Rights to Build Atari Hotels in Dubai, Gibraltar, and Spain". Bloomberg.com (Press release). 10 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  164. ^ "Videogame pioneers, formally announce plans for an Atari-themed hotel to be built in Gibraltar". www.gbc.gi. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  165. ^ "Atari Expands Hotel Licencing Deal with ICICB to More Countries; Shares Jump 16% | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  166. ^ "Atari Extends Hotel Partnership with ICICB Group to more Countries in Europe and Africa, and Asia". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). 22 March 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  167. ^ "Atari restructures, names new CEO". 8 April 2021.
  168. ^ "Atari Gaming moving away from free-to-play and mobile games". 5 July 2021.
  169. ^ "New stage in the strategic development of Atari's blockchain division" (PDF). 7 June 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  170. ^ Dealessandri, Marie (24 November 2021). "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". GamesIndustry.biz.
  171. ^ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support" (Press release). Atari. 8 March 2022. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  172. ^ "Atari announces the termination of its relationships with Crypto Blockchain Industries" (PDF). 30 March 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  173. ^ "Atari Announces Planned Creation of New Token and Termination of Joint Venture" (PDF). 18 April 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  174. ^ "Atari Announces Acquisition of Berzerk and Frenzy IP" (Press release). Atari. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  175. ^ "Atari enters into an agreement to acquire Night Dive Studios and announces its intention to proceed with the issuance of €30 M bonds convertible into new Atari shares" (Press release). Atari SA. 22 March 2023. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023 – via Yahoo! Finance.
  176. ^ "Atari Announces Acquisition of More than 100 PC and Console Titles from the 80s and 90s". GlobeNewswire (Press release). 19 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  177. ^ "GT INTERACTIVE LLC Trademarks". Justia.
  178. ^ "Atari Announces Acquisition of M Network Atari 2600 Titles and Related Trademarks" (Press release). Atari. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023 – via Yahoo! Finance.
  179. ^ "Atari Announces Strategic Collaboration with Playmaji". Atari®. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  180. ^ McEvoy, Sophie (6 July 2023). "Atari makes minority investment into Playmaji". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  181. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (7 September 2023). "Atari acquires AtariAge". GamesIndustry.biz.
  182. ^ Batchelor, James (31 October 2023). "Atari to acquire Digital Eclipse in $20m deal". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  183. ^ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2 April 2024). "Atari acquires RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 publishing rights". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  184. ^ Dealessandri, Marie (23 April 2024). "Atari relaunches Infogrames, acquires Totally Reliable Delivery Service". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  185. ^ "Major Shareholders". tinyBuild. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  186. ^ Dring, Christopher (23 May 2024). "Atari Acquires Intellivision Brand and Over 200 games". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  187. ^ "Atari Acquires Intellivision Brand". Yahoo! News. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  188. ^ B2B, Christopher Dring Head of Games (26 June 2024). "Infogrames buys Surgeon Simulator franchise from TinyBuild". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 17 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  189. ^ "Atari Acquires Chris Sawyers' Transport Tycoon".
  190. ^ "Infogrames Acquires Publishing Rights of Co-op Hit Bread & Fred | PONGF Stock News". 4 November 2024.
  191. ^ "Atari acquires AtariAge". 7 September 2023.
  192. ^ "INFOGRAMES INTERACTIVE, INC. :: Massachusetts (US) :: OpenCorporates".
  193. ^ "Infogrames s'installe au Japon". 11 October 2000.
  194. ^ Batchelor, James (31 October 2023). "Atari to acquire Digital Eclipse in $20m deal". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  195. ^ "GT INTERACTIVE LLC Trademarks :: Justia Trademarks".
  196. ^ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". Atari, Inc. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  197. ^ "Atari enters into an agreement to acquire Night Dive Studios and announces its intention to proceed with the issuance of €30 M bonds convertible into new Atari shares". Yahoo Finance. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  198. ^ a b c Annual report atari.com
  199. ^ "ATARI STUDIOS ASIA PTY LIMITED :: Australia :: OpenCorporates".
  200. ^ "ATARI MELBOURNE HOUSE PTY LIMITED :: Australia :: OpenCorporates".
  201. ^ "DMA DESIGN HOLDINGS LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  202. ^ "Jeux vidéoDégraissage sanglant chez Infogrames". 3 October 2002.
  203. ^ Sakuraoka-Gilman, Matt (30 August 2011). "iOS retro remake Bounder's World hits the App Store". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  204. ^ "ATARI NORDIC, FILIAL AF ATARI NORDIC AB, SVERIGE :: Denmark :: OpenCorporates".
  205. ^ "BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Germany GMBH :: Germany :: OpenCorporates".
  206. ^ "ATARI ASIA PACIFIC PTY LIMITED :: Australia :: OpenCorporates".
  207. ^ "BANDAI NAMCO AUSTRALIA PTY Ltd :: Australia :: OpenCorporates".
  208. ^ "BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT AUSTRALIA PTY Ltd :: Australia :: OpenCorporates".
  209. ^ "BANDAI NAMCO ENTERTAINMENT NZ LIMITED :: New Zealand :: OpenCorporates".
  210. ^ "INFOGRAMES LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  211. ^ Batchelor, James (4 November 2024). "Atari acquires Transport Tycoon IP". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  212. ^ a b c "Intellivision". Atari®. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
[edit]