Atari Acquires More than 100 PC and Console Titles From the 80s and 90s (Including Bubsy Bobcat and Demolition Racer)

[DaBigJ]

So this happened.

Quote

 

NEW YORK, April 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atari® — one of the world's most iconic consumer brands and interactive entertainment producers — announced today the acquisition of more than 100 PC and console titles from the 1980s and 1990s. The collection includes notable games from the Bubsy, Hardball, Demolition Racer series, as well as the 1942: Pacific Air War, F-117A, and F-14 air combat series. Atari will seek to expand digital and physical distribution of the classic titles, create new games based on the IP, and explore brand and merchandising collaborations.

“This is a deep catalog that includes groundbreaking and award-winning titles from Accolade, Infogrames and Microprose,” said Atari CEO Wade Rosen. “Many of these titles are a part of Atari history, and fans can look forward to seeing many of these games re-released in physical and digital formats, and in some cases, even ported to modern consoles.”

 

Atari also acquired the trademark to the Accolade and GTI brands. Accolade was a well-respected US-based video game developer and publisher from 1984 until 2000.

Atari is undertaking a multi-year effort to transform the company behind one of the world's most iconic brands. An important part of that effort involves expanding Atari’s video game business, leveraging the company’s large catalog of IP to release classic games and bring new, high-quality games to market. Atari's vast library of IP is the vault from which new and exciting game development ideas are pulled – reinventing old classics, reimagining storylines, and developing entirely new narratives inspired by the games that set the course for an entire industry.

 

 

I guess we can expect more stuff from these IPs...how....interesting?

[MGA_Gamer]

I personally don't expect much to come from this. Atari hasn't been a major game company for years. I would love to be proven wrong though.

[Dreadknux]

It’s worth pointing out that this seems to be a “new era” Atari under revised ownership, and they’ve been doing some interesting things lately.

They acquired Nightdive Studios (an indie dev known for their remaster work) and recently published the Atari 50 anniversary collection on modern platforms. I’ve not played it but the consensus seems to be that Atari 50 is an example of one of the best game compilations in years.

That said, there isn’t exactly a full list of IP they’ve purchased here is there? They’ll probably do a good job with most of them but when your headlining mention is Bubsy… not sure to be honest haha.

[SticksSuperFan14]

Maybe it's just a coincidence, but it seems a little tone deaf to buy the rights to Bubsy right after it's creator died.

[DaBigJ]

1 hour ago, SticksSuperFan14 said:

Maybe it's just a coincidence, but it seems a little tone deaf to buy the rights to Bubsy right after it's creator died.

Bubsy's creator didn't own the character. When you create a character for a company, you basically sell the rights to that character to the company.  As such, Accolade (and now Atari) can do anything they want with Bubsy, including selling the IP.

Sure, it's a little insensitive maybe, but at the end of the day these things just happen and we can't do much to prevent it.

[sonicclaasic]

That's Interesting from Atari acquiring more than 100 PC and Console Titles from the 80s and 90s. I remember playing Bubsy on the Sega Mega Drive back then I love playing Bubsy brings back memories. I do hope to see the classic on modern consoles.