Atari (Infogrames)
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Atari SA (formerly Infogrames Entertainment SA) is a French video game
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
headquartered in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. Its subsidiaries include
Atari Interactive Atari Interactive is a name used by several separate groups and corporations since the mid-1990s. In 1996, it was the name of Atari Corporation's PC publishing division, bringing games like the Atari Jaguar's ''Tempest 2000'' to the PC platfor ...
and
Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...
It is the current owner of the
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
brand through Atari Interactive. Because of continuing pressures upon the company and difficulty finding investors, it sought bankruptcy protection under French law in January 2013; its subsidiaries in the United States have sought
Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...
protection as well. All three subsidiaries have since exited bankruptcy.


History


Early history (1983–1996)

The founders wanted to christen the company ''Zboub Système'' (which can be approximately translated to ''Dick System'' in English), but were dissuaded by their legal counsel.Excerpt
from Daniel Ichbiah, ''La saga des jeux vidéo''. Vuibert. 2004.
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 French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
words "informatique" (information technology) and "programme" (computer program). The final choice, Infogrames, was a slightly modified version of that suggestion. The company logo and mascot is an
armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...
(''tatou'' in French), chosen when the company was moved to
Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; frp, Velorbana) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after tha ...
. Bonnell commented: "This dinosaur is our symbol. The armadillo has always survived changes to its environment, from the melting of glaciers to the worst of heat waves." 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 An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
, to international attention. By 1995, Infogrames was held by many shareholders, including a 20% stake from Pathé Interactive (joint-venture between Phillips Media and
Chargeurs Chargeurs Réunis (United Shippers) is a major French company formed in 1872. It is now known as Chargeurs (). Profile and management Chargeurs is a global, diversified group with leadership positions in niche markets, both in manufacturing and ...
) and 3.3% by Productions Marcel Dassault. 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.


Growth through acquisition (1996–2000)

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. 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. The company began their acquisitions by purchasing the British-based holding company Ocean International Ltd. for $100 million, with their UK and US subsidiaries rebranding as distribution arms of Infogrames. This was followed up with the purchase of French distributor Phillips Media for ₣191.5 million, which also included two German companies, distributor Bomico Entertainment Software GmbH and publisher Laguna Video Games, but didn't include the UK-based Leisuresoft. In 1998, Infogrames acquired three distributors; ABS Multimedia, Arcadia, and the Swiss Gamecity GmbH, followed with a 62.5% in the Australian game distributor OziSoft in December following its then-recent relinquishment from
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
, followed up in February 1999 with a 50% stake in
Canal+ Multimedia Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...
and the purchase of the Gremlin Group for $40 million in March, which included developers
Gremlin Interactive Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...
and
DMA Design Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) is a British video game development company and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The company was founded as DMA Design in Dundee in 1987 by David Jones (video game developer), D ...
. The former was renamed as Infogrames Sheffield House, while the latter was soon sold by Infogrames to
Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which operate internal g ...
. On April 5, 1999, Infogrames purchased the Paris-based development studio of Phygnosis. On April 20, the company made another major acquisition by purchasing
Accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...
for $60 million, which was renamed as ''Infogrames North America, Inc.'', and the Australian-based
Beam Software Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Melbourne House, was an Australian video game developer, video game development studio founded in 1980 by Alfred Milgrom and Naomi Milgrom, Naomi Besen and based in Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. Initially ...
, which was renamed to ''Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd''. In December 1999, Infogrames bought 70% of
GT Interactive GT, Gt or G-T may refer to: Arts and entertainment Games * GT Interactive, an American video game developer * GameTrailers, a video game website * '' Golden Tee Golf'', golf video game * ''Gran Turismo'' (series), a series of racing video games ...
for $135 million, and assumed the new subsidiary's $75 million bank debt. 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 ''Duke Nukem'' is a video game series named for its main character, Duke Nukem. Created by the company Apogee Software Ltd. (now 3D Realms) as a series of video games for personal computers, the series expanded to games released for various co ...
,
Oddworld ''Oddworld'' is a video game series and fictional universe, created by developers Oddworld Inhabitants under the direction of Lorne Lanning. The series has been released on various platforms such as PlayStation, Xbox, PlayStation 3, Game Boy, Wi ...
,
Unreal Tournament ''Unreal Tournament'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. The second installment in the ''Unreal'' series, it was first published by GT Interactive in 1999 for Microsoft Windows, and later r ...
and Deer Hunter". By June 2000 Infogrames had invested another $30 million in GT Interactive, and renamed the publisher as Infogrames, Inc. immediately. Included in the GT Interactive purchase were the game development studios
SingleTrac SingleTrac Entertainment Technologies was an American video game developer, mostly for the PlayStation platform. The management team and much of the original development team came from Evans & Sutherland, bringing their 3D graphics and software e ...
,
Humongous Entertainment Humongous Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in 1992, the company is best known for developing multiple edutainment franchises, most prominently ''Putt-Putt (series), Putt-Putt'', ''Fred ...
,
Legend Entertainment Legend Entertainment Company was an American Video game developer, developer and Video game publisher, publisher of computer games, best known for creating Adventure game, adventure titles throughout the 1990s. The company was founded by Bob ...
and
Reflections Interactive Ubisoft Reflections Limited (formerly Reflections and later Reflections Interactive Limited) is a British video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Founded in 1984 by Martin Edmondson and Nicholas Chamberlain, th ...
; however, SingleTrac was closed down by the end of the year. In 2000, the developer
Paradigm Entertainment Paradigm Entertainment Inc. (previously part of Paradigm Simulation) was an American video game development company. Paradigm is perhaps best known for its vehicle simulation games. Founded as a 3D computer graphics company in 1990, Paradigm pri ...
was bought for $19.5 million and in-flight games developer Den-o-Tech Int. (DTI), later renamed to ''Infogrames DTI'', was also acquired for $5.6 million. In June 2000, the company was one of the interested parties to acquire
Eidos Interactive Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...
. In January 2001, IESA purchased
Hasbro Interactive Hasbro Interactive was an American video game developer, video game production and video game publisher, publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game and toy company. Several of its studios were closed in early 2001 and most of its properties ...
and the
handheld game console A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the cons ...
''
Game.com The Game.com is a fifth-generation handheld game console released by Tiger Electronics on September 12, 1997. A smaller version, the Game.com Pocket Pro, was released in mid-1999. The first version of the Game.com can be connected to a 14.4 ...
'' from
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
for $100 million; with $95 million as 4.5 million common shares of Infogrames and $5 million in cash. With the acquisition of Hasbro Interactive, which was renamed as Infogrames Interactive, Inc., IESA became the owner of the
MicroProse MicroProse is an American video game publisher and video game developer, developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization (series), Civilizatio ...
and
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
brand names, alongside titles such as ''
Civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Ci ...
'', ''
Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...
'', ''
RollerCoaster Tycoon ''RollerCoaster Tycoon'' is a series of simulation video games about building and managing an amusement park. Each game in the series challenges players with open-ended amusement park management and development, and allowing players to construc ...
'', ''
Centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...
'', ''
Missile Command ''Missile Command'' is a 1980 shoot 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. and licensed to Sega for Japanese and European releases. It was designed by Dave Theurer, who also designed Atari's vector graphics game ''Tempest ...
'', and ''
Pong ''Pong'' is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcor ...
''. Under the terms of the sale agreement, Infogrames gained the exclusive rights to develop and publish games based on Hasbro properties, which included ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'', ''
Mr. Potato Head Mr. Potato Head is an American toy brand consisting of a plastic model of a potato "head" to which a variety of plastic parts can attach — typically ears, eyes, shoes, hat, nose, pants and mouth. Mr. Potato Head was invented and manufact ...
'', ''
My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature c ...
'' and others, for a period of 15 years plus an option for an additional 5 years based on performance. In October, Infogrames announced to "reinvent" the Atari brand with the launch of three new games featuring prominent Atari branding on their boxarts: ''
Splashdown Splashdown is the method of landing a spacecraft by parachute in a body of water. It was used by crewed American space capsules prior to the Space Shuttle program, by SpaceX Dragon and Dragon 2 capsules and by NASA's Orion Multipurpose Crew ...
'', ''
MX Rider ''MX Rider'' (often stylized as ''MXrider'') is a racing video game developed by Paradigm Entertainment and published by Infogrames in 2001. It was the first title released under Infogrames' newly reinvented Atari brand name, which Infogrames u ...
'' and '' TransWorld Surf''. The company focused the Atari brand mainly for console games aimed at a 18–34 year-old demographic. PC, educational and casual games retained the Infogrames banner. In April 2002, the company's Japanese division Infogrames Japan K.K. signed a Japanese distribution deal with
Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...
for select titles and soon relaunched the Atari brand in the country with the publication of ''Splashdown'', ''TransWorld Surf'' and ''V-Rally 3'' in the region. In May, Infogrames purchased
Shiny Entertainment Shiny Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, California. Founded in October 1993 by David Perry (game developer), David Perry, Shiny was the creator of video games such as ''Earthworm Jim (video game), E ...
from
Interplay Entertainment Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca ...
for $47 million, with the purchase also including exclusive publishing rights to publish games based on ''
The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...
''. In October, Infogrames acquired the remaining 80% of
Eden Studios Eden Studios was a commercial recording facility in west London. It opened in 1967, originally at 11 Eden Street in Kingston upon Thames (now under the Eden Walk shopping centre), before moving to 20-24 Beaumont Road in Chiswick in 1972. It was ...
for $4.1 million, and IESA bought the remaining shares of ''OziSoft'' and other share holders for $3.7 million, then renamed them to Infogrames Australia Pty, Ltd. and Infogrames New Zealand Pty, Ltd. During 2002, the company shuttered their Chippenham and Lyon House development studios. 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.


Rebranding to Atari (2003-2006)

On 7 May 2003, IESA officially reorganized its subsidiaries under Atari branded names and became a holding company. Infogrames, Inc. was renamed as
Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...
, Infogrames Interactive, Inc. to
Atari Interactive Atari Interactive is a name used by several separate groups and corporations since the mid-1990s. In 1996, it was the name of Atari Corporation's PC publishing division, bringing games like the Atari Jaguar's ''Tempest 2000'' to the PC platfor ...
, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IESA,Summary of ATARI INC – Yahoo! Finance
/ref> Infogrames Australia Pty Ltd to
Atari Australia is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
Pty Ltd, renamed Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd to Atari Melbourne House Pty Ltd, Infogrames UK to Atari UK, and Infogrames Europe to Atari Europe.
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
is a public company that, as of 2007, had, as a majority stockholder, the company California U.S. Holdings, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IESA.
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
licences the ''
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
'' trademark from
Atari Interactive Atari Interactive is a name used by several separate groups and corporations since the mid-1990s. In 1996, it was the name of Atari Corporation's PC publishing division, bringing games like the Atari Jaguar's ''Tempest 2000'' to the PC platfor ...
, a licence which was set to expire in 2013. Atari, Inc. has the rights to publish and sublicense in North America certain intellectual properties either owned or licensed by IESA or its subsidiaries, including Atari Interactive. Atari's Australian subsidiary also distributes games for
Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...
of Europe,
Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...
UK,
Eidos Interactive Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...
and SCi. Konami has an Australian headquarters but this is for Konami's Gaming Machines. By 2003, the company continued to shutter more development studios, with Sheffield House, Atari Hunt Valley, and Legend Entertainment all closing within this time. On July 29, 2004,
Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, M ...
, the developer behind the ''
Unreal Unreal may refer to: Books and TV * ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings * ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime Computing and games * ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...
'' franchise, announced they had ended their publishing contract with Atari and signed a three-game publishing deal with
Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...
beginning with '' Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict'' in 2005, although Atari would continue to publish the existing back catalog of titles. On November 25, 2004, Infogrames sold the ''
Civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Ci ...
'' franchise to an undisclosed partner for $22.3 million., revealed to be
Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which operate internal g ...
the following year in January, purchasing all previous titles and other Sid Meier titles previously handled by Infogrames, such as the then-recent ''
Sid Meier's Pirates! ''Sid Meier's Pirates!'' is a video game created by Sid Meier for the Commodore 64 and published by MicroProse in 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's ear ...
'' after signing a new deal with
Firaxis Games Firaxis Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Sparks, Maryland. The company was founded in May 1996 by Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds (game designer), Brian Reynolds following their departure from MicroProse, Meier ...
. On June 9, 2005, Hasbro bought back the digital gaming rights for their properties from Atari for $65 million. Within the deal, Hasbro purchased back the video game rights to ''
Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, suc ...
'', ''
My Little Pony ''My Little Pony'' (''MLP'') is a toy line and media franchise developed by American toy company Hasbro. The first toys were developed by Bonnie Zacherle, Charles Muenchinger, and Steve D'Aguanno, and were produced in 1981. The ponies feature c ...
'', ''
Tonka Tonka is an American producer of toy trucks. The company is known for making steel toy models of construction type trucks and machinery. Maisto International, which makes diecast vehicles, acquired the rights to use the Tonka name in a line of ...
'', ''
Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a tabletop and digital collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast (now a subsidiary of Hasbro), ''Magic'' was the first ...
'', ''
Connect Four Connect Four (also known as Connect 4, Four Up, Plot Four, Find Four, Captain's Mistress, Four in a Row, Drop Four, and Gravitrips in the Soviet Union) is a two-player connection board game, in which the players choose a color and then take tur ...
'', ''
Candy Land ''Candy Land'' (also ''Candyland'') is a simple racing board game published by Hasbro. The game requires no reading and minimal counting skills, making it suitable for young children. No strategy is involved as players are never required to ma ...
'' and ''
Playskool Playskool is an American company that produces educational toys and games for children. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. History The Playskool Institute was established by Lucille King in 192 ...
'', while obtaining a seven-year exclusive deal to produce video games based on ''Monopoly'', ''
Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left t ...
'', ''Game of Life'', ''Battleship'', ''Clue'', ''
Yahtzee Yahtzee is a dice game made by Milton Bradley (a company that has since been acquired and assimilated by Hasbro). It was first marketed under the name of Yahtzee by game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe in 1956. The game is a development of earlier ...
'', ''Simon'', ''Risk'' and ''
Boggle ''Boggle'' is a word game invented by Allan Turoff and originally distributed by Parker Brothers. The game is played using a plastic grid of lettered dice, in which players look for words in sequences of adjacent letters. Rules One player begi ...
'', alongside an expanded separate deal with the ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'' franchise.


Profit losses (2006-2008)

Infogrames through the remainder of 2006 sold intellectual properties and some studios in order to raise cash and stave off the threat of bankruptcy. Their first sell-offs were on May 10, 2006, when they sold Games.com site to
AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017 ...
,
Paradigm Entertainment Paradigm Entertainment Inc. (previously part of Paradigm Simulation) was an American video game development company. Paradigm is perhaps best known for its vehicle simulation games. Founded as a 3D computer graphics company in 1990, Paradigm pri ...
and the ''
Stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...
'' franchise to
THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...
and the publishing rights to ''
TimeShift Time shift or Timeshift may refer to: * ''Timeshift'' (TV series), a BBC documentary series * ''TimeShift'', a video game released in 2007 * Time shifting, a form of personal consumer media recording * Timeshift channel, used in the time-delayed r ...
'' to
Vivendi Games Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Associ ...
. The sales generated $25 million in revenue. On June 17, 2006, Midway acquired the publishing rights to the ''Unreal'' back catalogue from Infogrames, this was followed on in when developer
Reflections Interactive Ubisoft Reflections Limited (formerly Reflections and later Reflections Interactive Limited) is a British video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Founded in 1984 by Martin Edmondson and Nicholas Chamberlain, th ...
and the '' Driver'' franchise were sold for $21.6 million to
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
. In October, Shiny Entertainment was acquired by
Foundation 9 Entertainment Foundation 9 Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game company based in Irvine, California. The company was formed in March 2005 through the merger of video game developers Backbone Entertainment and The Collective. History Foundation ...
for $1.6 million., with the last studio put up for sale - Atari Melbourne House, being sold to
Krome Studios Krome Studios Pty Ltd. is an Australian video game company. Its headquarters were in Brisbane and it previously had offices in Adelaide and Melbourne (Krome Studios Melbourne). Krome Studios is best known for their '' Ty the Tasmanian Tiger'' g ...
in November 2006, and was renamed to Krome Studios Melbourne. After this the only developers still owned by Atari were
Eden Games Eden Games (formerly known as Eden Studios) is a French video game developer based in Lyon, France, that mainly focuses on the development of racing video games. History The company was formed as a development group within Infogrames' European ...
and Humongous, Inc. On September 1, 2006, Atari, Inc. announced that its stock faced delisting from the
NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
stock exchange due to its price having fallen below $1.00. On September 5, 2006, David Pierce was appointed as new
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Atari, replacing
Bruno Bonnell Bruno Bonnell (born 6 October 1958) is a French businessman and politician who represented the 6th constituency of Rhône in the National Assembly from 2017 to 2022. A member of La République En Marche! (LREM), he is a co-founder of Infogrames ...
. Pierce previously worked as an
executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...
at
Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
,
Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, ac ...
,
Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
, and
Sony Wonder Sony Wonder (founded as Sony Kids’ Music) is the kids and family entertainment label of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and the former record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Despite the similarity in name, Sony Wonder is not direct ...
. In April 2007, Infogrames' founding chairman
Bruno Bonnell Bruno Bonnell (born 6 October 1958) is a French businessman and politician who represented the 6th constituency of Rhône in the National Assembly from 2017 to 2022. A member of La République En Marche! (LREM), he is a co-founder of Infogrames ...
left the company after 24 years; on the day of the announcement of his departure IESA's shares jumped 24%. 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. In July 2007, Atari sold back their exclusive Hasbro licensing deal back to Hasbro for $19 Million, which concluded with Hasbro signing a new casual game deal with
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
a month later. On November 7,
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
reported that Atari was beginning to run out of money, losing 12 million dollars in the first fiscal quarter of 2008.


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

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.Atari, Inc. Reports Receipt of Non-Binding Offer from Infogrames Entertainment S.A.: Financial News
Yahoo! Finance
On 30 April, Atari Inc. announced its intentions to accept Infogrames' buyout offer and merge with Infogrames,
Yahoo! Finance
which was completed by October 9. With that acquisition Infogrames was the only owner of the Atari brand. Infogrames said that it planned to reduce administrative costs and to focus on online gaming. On May 9, 2008, it was revealed that NASDAQ would be removing Atari from the NASDAQ stock exchange. 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.
Source: The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. - GlobeNewswire, Inc.
In September 2008,
Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
and Infogrames formed a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
called Distribution Partners. Distribution Partners was defined by Infogrames as a regrouping of "Infogrames' distribution operations in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America." This new entity consisted mainly of Infograme's distribution network in the
PAL region The PAL region is a television publication territory that covers most of Europe and Africa, alongside parts of Asia, South America and Oceania. It is named PAL because of the PAL (Phase Alternating Line) television standard traditionally used in ...
. Distribution Partners was 34% owned by Namco Bandai and 66% owned by Atari. In December 2008, Infogrames bought
Cryptic Studios Cryptic Studios is an American video game developer specializing in MMORPG, massively multiplayer online role-playing games. It is headquartered in Los Gatos, California and was a wholly owned Perfect World (company), Perfect World subsidiary, a ...
for $26.7 million in cash plus performance bonuses. Cryptic Studios is a
massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...
developer and its acquisition is in line with the company's new business strategy which focuses on online games. In May 2009, Namco Bandai acquired Atari Europe from Infogrames. Its sale and marketing personnel were transferred to Distribution Partners. 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. 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". In July, the deal valued at €37 million was completed; Distribution Partners was renamed to Namco Bandai Partners. At that time the company had operations in 50 countries and 17 dedicated offices. 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).


Rebranding to Atari SA (2009-2013)

During their fiscal year meeting (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."'' 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.''" 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. 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. However, BlueBay shareholders later interrupted the sale process of its holding in Atari. BlueBay later converted the conversion of a portion of the ORANEs held by them. In 2012, 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).


Bankruptcy (2013–2014)

On 21 January 2013, Atari, Inc., Atari Interactive, Inc., Humongous, Inc. and California US Holdings, Inc. (collectively, the "Companies") filed petitions for relief under Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code, Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.


Sell-off of intellectual properties (2013–present)

In July 2013, Atari began to sell its game assets, developers and the famous "Fuji" logo and the Atari name in a bankruptcy auction. During the sale, the ''Battlezone (1980 video game), Battlezone'' and ''MoonBase Commander'' games were bought by Rebellion Developments. The ''Backyard Sports series, Backyard Sports'' franchise was sold to Epic Gear LLC and later to Day 6 Sports Group LLC. Appeal Studios acquired ''Outcast (video game), Outcast''. Glu Mobile acquired the ''Deer Hunter'' franchise. Tommo bought Humongous Entertainment, Humongous Inc. and over 100 different games (Including games from the companies
Accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...
and
MicroProse MicroProse is an American video game publisher and video game developer, developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization (series), Civilizatio ...
, and ''Math Gran Prix''). THQ Nordic, Nordic Games acquired the rights to ''Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive, Desperados'' and ''Silver (video game), Silver''.'' Total Annihilation'' and ''Master of Orion'' were sold to Wargaming (company), Wargaming and lastly, ''Star Control'' was bought by Stardock. Atari also had plans to sell off the ''Test Drive (series), Test Drive'' and ''RollerCoaster Tycoon'' franchises.
Eden Games Eden Games (formerly known as Eden Studios) is a French video game developer based in Lyon, France, that mainly focuses on the development of racing video games. History The company was formed as a development group within Infogrames' European ...
also closed down during the bankruptcy, but reopened a year later as an independent developer by its founder, David Nadal. In 2015, Alternative Software acquired ''Hogs of War'' and ''Fragile Allegiance'' and re-released them both on Steam (service), Steam. In December 2016, Atari sold the ''Test Drive'' franchise to Bigben Interactive and also sold the ''V-Rally'' series to the company without a formal announcement. In 2017, Piko Interactive acquired several titles from Atari: ''40 Winks (video game), 40 Winks'', ''Bubble Ghost'', ''KULT: The Temple of Flying Saucers, Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess'', ''Death Gate'', ''Drakkhen'', ''Eternam'', ''Glover (video game), Glover'', ''Monty Mole'', ''Hostages (video game), Hostage: Rescue Mission'', ''Marco Polo'' and ''Time Gate: Knight's Chase''. On 19 September 2018, THQ Nordic announced they had acquired the ''Alone in the Dark'' franchise and ''Act of War: Direct Action, Act of War''. On March 3, 2020, Ziggurat Interactive acquired dozens of ex-Atari owned titles, including ''Deadly Dozen''.


Turnaround strategy (2014–present)

In 2014, all 3 Ataris emerged from bankruptcy and entered the social casino gaming industry with Atari Casino. Frédéric Chesnais, who now heads all three companies, stated their entire operations consist of a staff of 10 people. In 2015, Atari announced a turnaround strategy that would focus on re-releasing the catalogue of Atari games. The strategy was focused on "download games, MMO games, mobile games and licensing activities, based in priority around traditional franchises." Projects in the turnaround strategy included: * ''Alone in the Dark: Illumination'' for PC (solo or multiplayer action and adventure game). Upon release the game was met with negative reception. * ''RollerCoaster Tycoon World'' for PC (offline or online, solo or multiplayer game), the follow-up to ''RollerCoaster Tycoon 3'' for PC. * A version of ''Lunar Lander (1979 video game), Lunar Lander'' for mobile. On 8 June 2017 a short teaser video was released, promoting a new product; 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. In mid July 2017 an Atari press release confirmed the existence of new hardware, referred to as the ''Ataribox''. The box design was derived from early Atari designs (e.g. 2600) with a ribbed top surface, and a rise at the back of the console; two versions were announced; one with a traditional wood veneer front, and another with a glass front. Connectivity options were given as including HDMI, USB (x4), and an SD card – the console was said to support both classic and current games. According to an official company statement of 22 June 2017 the product was to initially launch via a crowdfunding campaign in order to minimise financial risk to the parent company. In March 2018, the Ataribox was renamed the Atari VCS (2021 console), Atari VCS. P In April 2019, Atari announces that they would begin trading on the Nasdaq Nordic stock exchange under the ticker ATA SDB.


Atari Chain and new investments (2020–present)

In 2020, the Atari Token was launched by Atari, in equal partnership with the ICICB Group. The group was granted with issuance license to launch an online gaming platform using crypto-currencies, including the Atari Token. The group partnering with Atari gave birth to a new company incorporated in Gibraltar called Atari Chain LTD. 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. The licensing agreement includes potential additional countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia. On April 2021, Atari restructured the company by splitting into Atari Gaming, who will focus on video games; and Atari Blockchain, who will focus on cryptocurrency, blockchain, and other businesses. On July 5, 2021, Atari Gaming announced to fully reenter the premium console and handheld industry and put a lesser extent to free-to-play and mobile games, leading to possible titles being closed or sold, alongside the closure of Atari Casino. On November 24, 2021, 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. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.


Subsidiaries


Current


Former


Development


Publication and Distribution


Game franchises owned by Atari SA

As of 2018, Atari SA own the rights to the following games and game franchises. The majority of these are original works by Atari, Inc., Atari,
Hasbro Interactive Hasbro Interactive was an American video game developer, video game production and video game publisher, publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game and toy company. Several of its studios were closed in early 2001 and most of its properties ...
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. * ''Adventure (Atari 2600), Adventure'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Air-Sea Battle'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Alien Brigade'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Alpha Waves'' (Infogrames) * ''Asteroids (video game), Asteroids'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Avalanche (video game), Avalanche'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Bedlam (1996 video game), Bedlam'' (GT Interactive) * ''Black Widow (video game), Black Widow'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Breakout (video game), Breakout'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Canyon Bomber'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Caverns of Mars'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Centipede (video game), Centipede'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Cheesy (video game), Cheesy'' (Ocean Software) * ''Circus (video game), Circus'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Citytopia'' (Atari Interactive, Inc.) * ''Crystal Castles (video game), Crystal Castles'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Cybermorph'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Desert Falcon'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Dracula the Undead (video game), Dracula the Undead'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Fatal Run'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Fight for Life (video game), Fight for Life'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Fighters Destiny'' (Ocean Software) * ''Food Fight (video game), Food Fight'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Gateway (video game), Gateway'' (Legend Entertainment) * ''Gravitar'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Haunted House (video game), Haunted House'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Hover Strike'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Hunchback (video game), Hunchback'' (Ocean Software) * ''I, Robot (video game), I, Robot'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Indy 800, Indy'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Jet Fighter (video game), Jet Fighter'' (Kee Games/Atari, Inc.) * ''Lee Enfield (video game), Lee Enfield'' (Infogrames) * ''Liberator (video game), Liberator'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Lunar Battle'' (Atari Interactive, Inc.) * ''Lunar Lander (video game series), Lunar Lander'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Match Day (video game), Match Day'' (Ocean Software) * ''
Missile Command ''Missile Command'' is a 1980 shoot 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. and licensed to Sega for Japanese and European releases. It was designed by Dave Theurer, who also designed Atari's vector graphics game ''Tempest ...
'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Mr. Nutz'' (Ocean Software) * ''Ninja Golf'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Night Driver (video game), Night Driver'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Outlaw (video game), Outlaw'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''
Pong ''Pong'' is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcor ...
'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Quadrun'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''RealSports'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Rollercoaster Tycoon'' (Hasbro Interactive) * ''Save Mary!'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Section 8 (video game), Section 8'' (Timegate Studios) * ''Secret Quest'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Sprint 2'' (Kee Games/Atari, Inc.) * ''Star Raiders'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Starshot: Space Circus Fever'' (Infogrames) * ''Swordquest'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Tank (video game), Tank'' (Kee Games/Atari, Inc.) * ''Tempest (video game), Tempest'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''The Wheel of Time (video game), The Wheel of Time'' (Legend Entertainment) * ''Ultra Vortek'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Video Olympics'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Warbirds (video game), Warbirds'' (Atari Corporation) * ''Warlords (1980 video game), Warlords'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Where Time Stood Still'' (Ocean Software) * ''Wizball'' (Ocean Software) * ''Yars' Revenge'' (Atari, Inc.) * ''Zapper: One Wicked Cricket'' (Infogrames)


References


External links

* {{Authority control Atari, Blockchain entities Companies based in Paris Companies listed on Euronext Paris Companies formerly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm French brands French companies established in 1983 Holding companies established in 1983 Holding companies of France Video game companies established in 1983 Video game companies of France Video game development companies Video game publishers