Atari is buying Digital Eclipse, a studio that focuses on preserving and rereleasing retro video games on trendy {hardware}. The releases are sometimes wealthy in extra supplies and historic content material. Assume the Criterion Assortment but for video games. In a press release, Atari says it’s paying as much as $20 million for the studio, together with an preliminary $6.5 million paid in a mixture of money and shares and an additional $13.5 million, which is because of be paid in money over the subsequent decade topic to Digital Eclipse’s efficiency. It expects to finish the deal within the coming days.
In whole, Atari says Digital Eclipse has produced over 250 video games since its inception.
Regardless of now being owned by Atari, Digital Eclipse says it nonetheless has the liberty to work on non-Atari initiatives in a FAQ page on its website. “Along with latest releases like Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord and The Making of Karateka, Digital Eclipse has a number of unannounced initiatives within the works that don’t contain Atari’s IP, and people will keep on as deliberate.”
That is the most recent notable acquisition Atari has made within the retro area this yr and follows its purchase of Nightdive Studios, a developer maybe finest recognized for its work remastering and remaking the System Shock titles. As with Nightdive, Atari says its acquisition of Digital Eclipse will assist with its “retro-focused development technique.”
“Digital Eclipse is the most effective on the planet at what they do,” Atari CEO Wade Rosen stated in an announcement. “They’ve a deep love and respect for the historical past of the video games trade, and are famend for growing critically acclaimed initiatives primarily based on historic franchises. Digital Eclipse, together with Nightdive, are in good alignment with Atari’s DNA and renewed objective.”
“Atari and Digital Eclipse share the identical ethos on the subject of celebration and preservation of gaming historical past,” stated Digital Eclipse founder and CEO Andrew Ayre. “It’s an thrilling mixture, and I’m assured this can serve Digital Eclipse and our followers extraordinarily effectively as we develop our enterprise and broaden our capabilities.”
Whereas the Atari 50 assortment was met with a Positive response, a number of the firm’s different latest initiatives haven’t been as effectively obtained. Its Atari VCS console had a rocky development and ultimately launched to middling reviews, and the model additionally got into NFTs in 2021. Hopefully, its latest acquisitions are an indication that it’ll be extra centered on the basic video games behind its model going ahead.