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Atari, Inc. is an American video gaming company based in New York City, and a subsidiary of the Atari SA holding company. It is the main entity serving the commercial Atari brand globally since 2003. The company currently publishes games based on retro Atari franchises as well as some new content,[1] and also produces the new Atari 2600+ console.[2] In the past it produced titles including Neverwinter Nights, Driver 3, Fahrenheit, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and Test Drive Unlimited.
 Logo of Atari, Inc. since 2018 | |
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| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | February 1993 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York , United States |
Key people | |
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| Website | atari |
Its origins date to GT Interactive Software in 1993, known for publishing games such as Doom II, Quake, Driver, the first Unreal. The company was acquired by Infogrames in 1999, and later renamed to Infogrames, Inc. Two years after Infogrames's purchase of the Atari brand and assets from Hasbro Interactive, the company was rebranded to Atari, Inc., initially serving as Infogrames's US operations.[3][4] In 2008 it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Infogrames, now known as Atari SA,[5] and activities were largely consolidated into Atari Inc.[6]
As GT Interactive
GT Interactive Software Corp. was founded in February 1993 in New York as the video game publishing division of GoodTimes Home Video, a video-tape distributor owned by the Cayre family, with Ron Chaimowitz as co-founder and president. In its first year, revenue reached $10.3 million.[7] Their first product was the retail release of Wolfenstein 3D.[8] GT was unique among many publishers as they allowed developers they contracted to retain their intellectual property.[citation needed]
Growth and Doom II
GT Interactive revenue soared 880% and reached $101 million in its second year of existence, with profits reaching $18 million.[9] GT Interactive's partnership with id Software scored another hit with Doom II: Hell on Earth, which was released in October 1994 and sold over 2 million copies. In February 1995, GT Interactive obtained the publishing rights to games based on Mercer Mayer property, which included Little Critter and Little Monster.[10] GT Interactive began to set up displays at Kmart and Walmart for low cost software.[11]
GT Interactive signed an exclusive software supplier agreement with Walmart that meant, according to UBS Securities analyst Michael Wallace, "All software developers have to deal with GT if they want to sell in a Walmart."[7]
Initial public offering
In December 1995, GT Interactive debuted on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the stock symbol GTIS.[12] Raising $140 million with its initial public offering, it was one of the biggest IPOs of the year.[13] GT Interactive offered 10 million shares to the public at $14 each.[13] During GT Interactive's IPO, Joseph Cayre sold more than 1.4 million shares, 9.2% of his shares, for a $20 million return.[13]
GT Interactive reported a strong revenue growth of 134% in the year to $234.4 million but, in the first sign of trouble ahead, profits increased a meager 23% to $22.6 million.[14]
Humongous acquisition and Quake
In January 1996, GT Interactive obtained the publishing rights for the highly anticipated Quake from id Software.[15]
In February GT Interactive and Target signed an agreement in which GT Interactive became the primary consumer software supplier to all Target's 675 stores.[16] In June 1996 GT Interactive acquired WizardWorks, publisher of the Deer Hunter series, for 2.4 million shares and FormGen, which had the publishing rights to Duke Nukem, for 1 million shares,[12] or $17 million.[17] Quake was also released in June by GT Interactive for PC.[citation needed] It sold 1.8 million copies,[18] becoming a PC classic.
In July, the game developer Humongous Entertainment was bought by GT Interactive for 3.5 million shares, or $76 million.[19] In 1995, Humongous Entertainment's revenue had risen to $10 million, an increase of 233% over 1994's revenue of $3 million.[19] The deal gave GT Interactive rights to successful children's software titles such as the Putt-Putt franchise as well as the Freddi Fish and Spy Fox series.
In November GT Interactive acquired Warner Interactive Europe (including Renegade Software) from Time Warner for $6.3 million in cash, with this acquisition GT Interactive gained bigger access to software markets in Western Europe.[12] In a sign of uncertainty for its future, GT Interactive, for the year, reported a net income increase of only 11% over the previous year to $25.1 million. Revenue growth also decelerated to 56%, revenue for the year was $365 million. Making matters worse, net income in the fourth quarter reduced 16.8% to $8.5 million when compared to 1995's fourth quarter.[14]
Net loss in 1997
In January 1997, GT Interactive bought One Stop, a European value software publisher, for $800,000 in cash.[12] In June GT Interactive signed a deal with MTV, the deal gave GT Interactive the rights to publish games based on Beavis and Butt-head and Æon Flux.[20]
In October GT Interactive bought game developer SingleTrac for $14.7 million — $5.4 million in cash and $9.3 million in stock. SingleTrac owned and developed such games as Twisted Metal and Jet Moto.[21][22] In September game developer Cavedog Entertainment, a division of Humongous Entertainment, made its first release, Total Annihilation,[23] which sold more than 1 million copies.[14]
On October 5, 1997, GT Interactive announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire MicroProse for $250 million in stock; the deal had even been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of both companies and was expected to be completed by the end of that year.[24] The merger would have made GT Interactive the second largest U.S. gaming software company, exceeded only by Electronic Arts.[25] But on December 5 the acquisition was cancelled, according to both CEOs "the time is simply not right" for the deal. MicroProse's stock plummeted after the announcement of the deal's cancellation.[26] GT Interactive's result was negatively affected because, in March, they stopped being the exclusive computer software distributor to Walmart, who decided to buy its software directly from the publishers.[27]
In 1997 GT Interactive's share of the entertainment software market reached a historical low of 6.4% down from the record highs of 9% and 10% years earlier. GT Interactive was a leader only on the arcade/action category, with a 20.3% market share. Making matters worse, GT Interactive also had a high debt/equity ratio of 41%; for comparison, Electronic Arts had a debt/equity ratio of just 8%. For 1997 GT Interactive's return on equity was a dismal -16.14%.[28] For the year, GT Interactive's revenue growth continued to decelerate, increased only 45% to $530 million.[29] During 1997 GT Interactive posted its first net loss, totaling $25 million.[14]
Further acquisitions in 1998
In May 1998, Epic Games's Unreal was published by GT Interactive, in the first 10 months over 800,000 copies were sold. Coincidentally Deer Hunter II, which was released in October also sold 800,000 copies.[14]
In November GT Interactive bought OneZero Media for $17.2 million in stock and $20 million in total, becoming the first game publisher to own an entertainment Internet website.[21][30] Legend Entertainment was acquired for around $2 million,[21] while Reflections Interactive was acquired for 2.3 million shares or $13.5 million.[21] Both companies were bought in December of 1998.[31]
In the fourth quarter of 1998 GT Interactive posted a net income of $16.7 million on revenues of $246.3 million.[32] For the year, GT Interactive reported revenues were almost flat rising 10% to $584 million, but GT Interactive swung into black by posting a $20.3 million net income (results from the fiscal year ending on December 31, 1998).[14][32]
Driver, financial troubles and sale to Infogrames
In 1999, GT Interactive posted first quarter losses of $90 million due to restructuring costs.[14] In February, in light of the bad results, CEO Ron Chaimowitz was replaced.[29] Game sales in 1999 fell in comparison to 1998, which had dire consequences on GT Interactive's finances. In April, GT Interactive predicted for 2000 a first quarter loss of $55 million on revenues of around just $95 million. A failure to release 5 major games and a planned relocation to Los Angeles added to the losses.[citation needed] In June GT Interactive announced it had hired Bear Stearns to look into the possibility of either a merger or a sale of the company and in October GT Interactive fired 35% of its workforce, or 650 employees, mostly from its distribution section.[33][failed verification]
In June, Reflections-developed Driver was released, selling approximately 1 million copies.[14] In July GT Interactive sold OneZero Media for $5.2 million in cash, just six months after it was purchased.[21]
On November 16, France-based Infogrames Entertainment, SA (IESA) announced that it would buy 70% of GT Interactive for $135 million and assume $10.5 million in debt,[33] a deal completed by December 17.[34] IESA's acquisition came just in time because GT Interactive's 1999 results were dismal. Revenues fell 30% to $408 million in 1999 and GT Interactive posted a net loss of $254 million for the year (results with the fiscal year ending on December 31, 1999).[32][35]
On May 10, 2000, IESA announced the renaming of GT Interactive to Infogrames, Inc.[36] Additionally, California-based Infogrames North America, Inc., which was formerly Accolade, was consolidated into the new Infogrames, Inc. and hence IESA's North American division.[36] The GT Interactive brand and trademark was eventually sold during Atari SA's (IESA's successor) 2013 bankruptcy, to Tommo, Inc., and later Billionsoft,[37] but was bought back by Atari SA on April 20, 2023, alongside select titles formerly published by the company.[38]
As Atari Inc.
In 2001, Infogrames Entertainment SA (IESA) acquired the Atari brand, assets and franchises from Hasbro Interactive. A few months later they released the Atari Anniversary Edition compilation. Later that year, Atari-branded titles published by Infogrames Inc. (and its European distributor Infogrames Europe SA) started appearing on brand new games, starting with MX Rider. Amid a corporate restructuring in 2003, IESA rebranded Infogrames, Inc. to Atari, Inc. on May 8, 2003 and all titles from here on were solely under the Atari brand.[4] It became 'ATAR' on the NASDAQ stock market.[4]
Matrix, Godzilla and other successes
Atari released a series of games based on The Matrix movie trilogy including Enter the Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo. Although not critical successes, these titles represent some of the most expensive video games ever developed. Enter the Matrix, which was developed by Shiny Entertainment, sold 1.38 million units for the PlayStation 2 and 1 million units for the GameCube.[39] However the 2004 release of Driver 3, as part of the Driver series developed by Reflections Interactive, was met with a widely negative critical reception.[40]
Atari's top-selling titles had been the Dragon Ball games based on the popular anime license from Toei Animation in Japan. These include the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series of games and the Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku series of games for the Game Boy Advance. These games have topped the best-seller charts for numerous console platforms since the release of Atari's first Dragon Ball Z game, The Legacy of Goku in 2002, which was the first Dragon Ball game to be made by an American company, Webfoot Technologies.[41][42] Following the success of the Budokai and Legacy of Goku series, Atari has released numerous other Dragon Ball titles including Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors, Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2, Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, Dragon Ball GT: Transformation, Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure and Super Dragon Ball Z.
Pipeworks developed and created all three of the console titles based on Godzilla for Atari, although handheld titles were developed separately. The series started with Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee for the GameCube which was released on October 11, 2002, to much success before it was ported to the Microsoft Xbox a year later.[43] It was followed by a sequel, Godzilla: Save the Earth for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, on November 16, 2004. Despite Save the Earth's relative commercial failure, Godzilla: Unleashed was released for the PS2 on November 20, 2007, and the Wii on December 5, 2007. Unleashed was accompanied by Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash for the Nintendo DS, which was released on November 20, 2007.
Retro releases and Atari Flashback
Alongside new releases, Atari, Inc. also released compilations honoring the classic Atari library, including Atari Anthology on PC and consoles, Atari Masterpieces in two volumes on Nokia N-Gage,[44] and Retro Atari Classics for Nintendo DS. The company went into hardware in 2004 with Atari Flashback, designed and produced by Atari consultant Curt Vendel through his engineering firm Legacy Engineering. With only a 10-week development window, what they produced looked like a miniature version of the Atari 7800 console originally released in 1984. Twenty classic Atari titles were built into the system.[45][46] The success of Flashback led to the creation of a follow-up Flashback 2, released in August 2005, based on an implementation of the original Atari 2600 on a single chip that Curt Vendel designed, allowing the original 2600 games to be run instead of ports as in the first Flashback. A total of forty titles were available for the system,[47] including Pitfall! licensed from Activision.[48] From 2011 onwards, the Flashback series was licensed out to AtGames.[49]
Titles after 2006
Driver: Parallel Lines was released in March 2006, receiving a more positive critique compared to its predecessor; however the company sold the Driver franchise to Ubisoft afterwards.[50] On May 5, 2006, Atari and Hasbro stopped BioWare and DLA from further development of premium modules and publishing near-completed premium modules for Neverwinter Nights. No reason was stated, but it was likely in anticipation of the upcoming sequel, Neverwinter Nights 2, which would lack features from these modules. They relented after community backlash.[51] Later that year came Test Drive Unlimited, developed by Eden Games of France which was also under the ownership of Infogrames Entertainment. Eden Games also developed Alone in the Dark, released in 2008, the fifth installment in the Alone in the Dark series. Other big releases by Atari were Ghostbusters: The Video Game in 2009 and Test Drive Unlimited 2 in 2011.
Atari, Inc., including its fellow American subsidiaries, filed for bankruptcy in 2013. It exited bankruptcy within a year, and following this its parent group had a new corporate strategy revolving around new audiences outside the gaming industry, and mobile games, leading to lessened activities by Atari, Inc. The first release of note was Alone in the Dark: Illumination in 2015, which was universally panned by critics.[52] For the rest of the decade, the company mainly released new titles in the RollerCoaster Tycoon series on various platforms, including RollerCoaster Tycoon World (2016), RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic (2017) and RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures (2019), but during this period also released Tempest 4000, developed by Llamasoft (Jeff Minter) as a sequel to the original Tempest, on various systems including the Atari VCS.[53]
Recharged series and new hardware
With a renewed focus of its parent company, led by Wade Rosen, on Atari's retro library and IPs, in 2022 Atari released Kombinera, the first original IP title that Atari produced in many years. It is a puzzle-platformer, developed by Graphite Lab,[54] and a game that fits into the "Atari gameplay motif" as part of the corporate strategy.[55] 2023 saw the release of Mr. Run and Jump on consoles and computers, as well as a remake of Haunted House, developed by Orbit Studio.[56] Atari have also been releasing remakes of classics under the Atari Recharged series since 2021.
At CES 2023, Atari partnered with My Arcade who produced three dedicated consoles under license with built-in Atari classics: the Atari Gamestation Plus, Pocket Player, and Micro Player.[57][58] In August 2023, Atari announced the 2600+ console, a product developed by Atari, Inc. and separate from the VCS and Flashback series.[59] In March 2024, Atari announced that it would bring its Atari Recharged series to arcades, which would be the first Atari arcade game since 1999's San Francisco Rush 2049.[60] Another recreated hardware, Atari 7800+, was announced in August 2024, alongside Atari reissusing cartridges of old titles.[61] Yars Rising was released in September 2024.[62]
Former
| Name | Location | Acquired/established | Closed/divested | Fate | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atari Melbourne House | Melbourne, Australia | 2000 | 2006 | Acquired by Infogrames in 1999, transitioned to Infogrames, Inc. in 2000. Sold to Krome Studios | [63] |
| Cavedog Entertainment | City of Industry, United States | 1996 | 2000 | Acquired with Humongous, Closed | |
| Humongous Entertainment | City of Industry, United States | 1996 | 2005 | Sold and closed by Infogrames, assets used to create Humongous, Inc. | |
| Legend Entertainment | Virginia, United States | 1999 | 2004 | Closed | |
| MacSoft | United States | 1996 | 2003 | Sold to Destineer | [64] |
| Paradigm Entertainment | Carrollton, United States | 2000 | 2006 | Acquired by Infogrames Entertainment and placed under Infogrames, Inc./Atari, Inc. Sold to THQ | |
| Reflections Interactive | Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom | 1998 | 2006 | Sold to Ubisoft | |
| Shiny Entertainment | Laguna Beach, United States | 2002 | 2006 | Purchased from Interplay Entertainment; sold to Foundation 9 Entertainment | |
| SingleTrac | Salt Lake City, United States | 1997 | 2000 | Closed | |
| WizardWorks | Plymouth, Minnesota | 1996 | 2004 | Closed | [65][66] |
Atari was one of the companies using British legal company Davenport Lyons in 2008 to recover damages from computer users illegally downloading games. It stopped using the company when they were made aware of the false claims being made against innocent members of the public.[67]
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