Atari may not be the megalithic corporation seen in the movie Blade Runner with its logo plastered on massive holographic billboards, but the company’s most recent efforts have centered on becoming the main player for the retro revival. One of the most-lauded companies helping to revitalize and republish older, often defunct video games, Digital Eclipse, is now a part of Atari after a $20 million buyout. Despite being under Atari’s umbrella, Digital Eclipse says it will still have enough independence to make the games it wants going forward.
Atari says this move was to further reinforce its “retro-focused growth strategy,” adding that Digital Eclipse is one of the few studios that is “recognized as leaders in retro-focused development.” The developer released the Atari 50 collection last year, featuring a whole swathe of games from the publisher’s back catalog going back into the 1970s.
“I know Atari will continue to champion our approach and that we will be bringing fans exciting new projects for years to come,” Digital Eclipse’s president and creative director Mike Mika said in a statement.
In a FAQ posted to the company’s website, the studio said it would still have freedom to work on projects outside of Atari’s library. The company says the Gold Master Series playable documentaries on gaming history, like the recent The Making of Karateka, will continue on as planned.
Gizmodo reached out to Digital Eclipse, and the company’s Editorial Director Chris Kohler confirmed that Atari hasn’t put any restrictions on what sort of projects they’ll work on going forward. He further declined to comment on any plans to expand operations or staff.
“There are absolutely several games in various stages of development, and they will continue on as planned,” Kohler said.
Atari CEO Wade Rosen said in the release that he wants to “push the boundaries of retro innovation” with the $20 million acquisition. The deal includes $4 million in cash upfront plus $2.5 million in Atari shares. Another $13.5 million will be payable in cash over the next 10 years, based on how well Digital Eclipse performs in that time. Atari is also buying up a few shares in Digital Eclipse.
Atari also just finished buying up Nightdive Studios back in May. The developer is known for their remasters and ports of games like Quake II, the Turok franchise, the System Shock remake, and the upcoming Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster.
There’s currently a dearth of availability for older video game content, especially all that which came before 2010 and digital downloads, so there’s certainly a demand and a will to give new life to long-defunct titles. Gizmodo featured Digital Eclipse earlier this year where we dug into the struggle to remake older titles, some of which don’t even have the source code available. The development team told us one of the biggest challenges they faced was licensing some of these older titles. Publishers like Nintendo hoard their properties, while Disney might be extremely selective about who gets to play around with the old Aladdin game for the Sega Genesis. For some older titles, there’s a maze of ownership that’s too tough for any team to untangle. Time will tell whether these kinds of retro acquisitions lead to more or less IP hoarding than before.