Atari SA

History

Founding and beginnings (1983–1996)

The company was founded by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet. 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. 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.

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."

In 1983, Infogrames released their first title The Cube, which sold 60,000 copies.

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 1987, Infogrames extended to the growing Multimedia market by founding Infogrames Multimedia, which would later develop and publish CD-ROM based games and software. In the same year, they formed an interactive videotex division, Infogrames Télématique.

In 1992, they released Alone in the Dark, a 3D horror adventure game, 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) 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 (1996–2003)

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.

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. 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. On 3 February, Infogrames announced that they would purchase the French division of Phillips Media BV for 191.5 million F with the deal closing on 9 June. 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), and German publisher Laguna Video Games. Leisuresoft was however not included in the sale, and was shuttered following the purchase. In October 1997, Infogrames announced to set up a subsidiary in India for the South East Asian market, mentioning interest in Thailand.

On 30 January 1998, Infogrames signed a licensing deal with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to publish and develop five titles based on the Looney Tunes franchise. On 8 February, Infogrames rebranded its subsidiaries under its own banner, with Ocean Software becoming Infogrames United Kingdom, Ocean of America becoming Infogrames Entertainment, Inc. 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. Later on in the year the company purchased the distributors ABS Multimedia, Arcadia, and the Swiss Gamecity GmbH and ending the year off with the purchase of a 62.5% in Australian game distributor Ozisoft, following its then-recent relinquishment from Sega.

Rebranding subsidiaries to Atari (2003–2008)

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., 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., merging with the previously existing Atari Interactive, Inc. which held all rights to the Atari brand. Other subsidiaries that rebranded included Infogrames Australia Pty, Ltd. rebranding as Atari Australia Pty, Ltd., Infogrames United Kingdom Limited rebranding as Atari United Kingdom Limited, Infogrames Europe rebranding as Atari Europe and development studio Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd becoming Atari Melbourne House Pty Ltd. The Infogrames Entertainment SA company as a whole remained under its name, and became a holding company for the Atari assets. Atari, Inc.'s majority shareholder was California U.S. Holdings, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames Entertainment SA. and had exclusive publishing and sublicensing in North America to release titles from Infogrames or its subsidiaries, including Atari Interactive.

Throughout 2003 and 2004, Infogrames and Atari continued to close studios and divested intellectual properties. On 2 October 2003, Zoo Digital Publishing, a then-new publisher founded by Gremlin Interactive co-founder Ian Stewart, announced that they had acquired the assets of Gremlin Interactive from Infogrames for an undisclosed one-off payment. The deal included all of Gremlin's catalogue alongside their brand, logo and trademark. On 25 November 2004, Infogrames announced they had sold the Civilization franchise to an undisclosed buyer for $22.3 million which was revealed to be Take-Two Interactive in January 2005. On 2 May, after signing a new deal with Firaxis Games, 2K fully acquired the Civilization back catalog as well as the publishing rights to the then-recent Sid Meier's Pirates! from Infogrames.

On 9 June 2005, Hasbro announced it had purchased back Atari's exclusive digital gaming rights to its properties for $65 million. In exchange for the deal, Atari acquired a seven-year exclusive agreement to publish titles based on select Hasbro board game properties, alongside a separate deal for the Dungeons & Dragons license. On 22 August, Atari, Inc. sold Humongous, Inc. to Infogrames Entertainment SA for shares worth US$10.3 million. With this, Infogrames laid off all remaining employees at the company with possible plans to relaunch the company's IP. Atari would continue to distribute the company's titles for a period until March 2006, and was later extended to March 2007.

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. On 30 April, Atari Inc. announced its intentions to accept Infogrames' buyout offer and merge with Infogrames, which was completed by 9 October. 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 9 May 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 24 April 2008, and the appeal hearing took place on 1 May 2008. Atari was expected to raise its value to $15 million USD from the period of 20 December 2007 through to March 2008. Atari received notice of its absolute delisting on 12 September 2008.

In September 2008, Namco Bandai Games, who had been attempting to gain a PAL distribution network since their merger in 2006, announced that they had entered into a joint venture with Infogrames/Atari called Distribution Partners. The venture, with Atari holding a 66% stake and Namco Bandai holding a 34% stake, would consolidate Atari's entire distribution network outside of North America and Japan into a single business with exclusive physical packaged-goods distribution rights for video games produced by Namco Bandai and Infogrames within Europe, Asia, South America, Oceania and Africa.

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. 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).

In March 2009, Infogrames Entertainment SA announced that as part of its new focus on developing and publishing games for the MMO market it would completely exit the PAL-region distribution arm and would sell its 66% stake at Distribution Partners over to Namco Bandai Games Europe. 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 May 2009, it was revealed that the assets of Atari Europe, which Namco Bandai purchased a 34% stake in, would also be folded into their own operations. Its sale and marketing personnel were transferred to Distribution Partners. The deal, valued at €37 million was closed on 7 July and Distribution Partners' entire operations were rebranded as Namco Bandai Partners, with Atari holding a five-year distribution deal for the rebranded company to exclusively distribute their titles in those territories. At that time the company had operations in 50 countries and 17 dedicated offices. The first title published by Atari under the new distribution agreement with Namco Bandai was Champions Online.

Rebranding to Atari SA (2009–2013)

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."

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.

On 4 April 2012, Glu Mobile acquired the Deer Hunter franchise from Atari. On 12 April, Eden Games began negotiations as an attempt to separate from Atari SA following a prior strike after Atari laid off a majority of the studios' employees the prior April. On 28 September, 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).

Chapter 11 bankruptcy and auction (2013–2014)

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. The following week on 29 January, Eden Games filed for judicial liquidation, effectively closing the studio down. On 23 May, Atari announced that they would sell their game assets, developers, the famous "Fuji" logo, and the Atari name in a bankruptcy auction. Prior to the bankruptcy sale in July, Nordic Games purchased the Desperados franchise and Silver on 24 June while Appeal Studios purchased the full rights to Outcast on 4 July.

The company's bankruptcy sale took place on 22 July 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. Other companies that bought assets were Rebellion Developments purchasing Atari's Battlezone franchise and Humongous title MoonBase Commander, 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, Wargaming purchasing the Total Annihilation and Master of Orion franchises, and Stardock purchasing Star Control. 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. In October, Eden Games reopened as an independent developer by its founder, David Nadal.

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

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. 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." Projects within the strategy included Alone in the Dark: Illumination, RollerCoaster Tycoon World, and a mobile game based on Lunar Lander.

On 14 December 2016, fellow-French publisher Bigben Interactive announced they had purchased the Test Drive IP and brand from Atari. The deal would allow for Bigben to publish new video games under the property, while Atari would retain all rights to all previous entries.

On 3 January 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. 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. On 8 June, 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 casing design was inspired by the original Atari 2600, with a ribbed top surface, and a rise at the back of the console. 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. 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. 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. On 19 September, THQ Nordic announced they had acquired the Alone in the Dark franchise and Act of War.

New leadership and refocus on retro gaming (2020–2026)

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. Within that year, the company launched the Atari Token cryptocurrency, in equal partnership with the ICICB Group. The group was licensed to launch an online gaming platform using crypto currencies, including the Atari Token. Also, Ziggurat Interactive acquired dozens of ex-Atari-owned titles, including Deadly Dozen.

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. 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. On 5 July 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. Chesnais later resigned from the company, though remained as a consultant through his new company, Crypto Blockchain Industries (CBI). On 24 November, 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.

In March 2022, Atari ended all ties with former CEO Chesnais and CBI. 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.

With these changes, Atari began to shift focus to focus on retro gaming. According to Rosen, the shift was predicated on the company's overly broad goals and trying to take on large mobile publishers like Supercell and King, and with their resources spread across so many ventures, they could not readily compete. Instead, they opted to decide to focus on one area and be the best at that, and moved that focus onto retro games. Already having dropped their cryptocurrency attempts, Atari wound down their mobile games approach and other ventures not part of the retro gaming approach.

Relocation to Luxembourg (2026-present)

At the end of February 2026, the company's shareholders agreed to relocate the company from France to Luxembourg. The deal was completed on 7 July, with Atari SA becoming a public limited company incorporated in Luxembourg, but remains listed on Euronext Growth Paris.

Before the move, Atari acquired Implicit Conversions, a developer specializing in remastering older titles for modern platforms, in April The same month, the company acquired the rights to the first five games in the Wizardry series and the underlying intellectual property, with plans to republish the games, develop remasters, and create new titles in the series. and later acquired Australian mobile game developer Hipster Whale at the beginning of June.

Subsidiaries

Game franchises owned by Atari SA

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 Accolade, Inc., GT Interactive, and 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.

Titles from GT Interactive

Bedlam

Titles from Intellivision

Sea Battle

Night Stalker

Star Strike

Titles from Stern Electronics

Anteater

Berzerk

Frenzy

Titles from tinyBuild

Surgeon Simulator

Totally Reliable Delivery Service

Titles from Ronimo Games

Awesomenauts

Swords & Soldiers

Titles from Ubisoft

Child of Eden

Cold Fear

Grow Home

Grow Up

I Am Alive