Fig - Atari in Two Game Deal

@gamesindustry Fig is teaming up with Atari in a two game deal.

Atari is teaming up with the crowdfunding platform Fig to bring two new projects to life, though they remain tight lipped on what either might be.

Despite a prestigious legacy of arcade classics, Atari hasn't brought much to the fore in recent years. However, this new deal with Fig has promised a reboot of one of its "most beloved intellectual properties" and an entirely new IP.

"Fig is providing a model where gamers not only help to get the titles they are most passionate about funded, but also have the opportunity to share in the financial returns with developers and publishers," said Fred Chesnais, CEO of Atari. "We're excited that Fig has opened up the vast potential of crowdfunding to IP holder and publisher alike by changing the narrative and allowing us to partner with our fans."

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Ermm…nope. Every time i hear Atari, i am asking how the hell they are still alive. The level of poor management was and still is beyond imagination. To even think to deal with them seems to me suicidal, especially as they are still operating under bankrupcy protection.

Originally Posted by Silver
Atari own the Temple of Elemental Evil IP.

I doubt that. It's Wizards/Hasbro, for sure.

Originally Posted by wolfsrain
Ermm…nope. Every time i hear Atari, i am asking how the hell they are still alive.

Every time they're on the verge of annihilation, some bigger, cash-burdened corporation buys them out. Today's Atari has zero relation to the company that created arcade classics. Irritating that they call out that ancient and unrelated history in the article.

Originally Posted by Avantenor
I doubt that. It's Wizards/Hasbro, for sure.

Thanks. I've corrected the newspost.

The last good thing I can remember Atari doing was publishing The Witcher. They also published NWN 2 and its expansions.

As a developer though.. idk. I didn't think they even still had a development team.

One of their most beloved intellectual properties? Is the world ready for a Pong reboot?

I don't get this. I mean they aren't really developers; they are a publisher that contract developers - so this funding is like giving them a lot of money to sponge off the developers they contract. Seems scamish to myself.

What is interesting is some form of the "real" Atari existed until 2003.

Originally Posted by wolfsrain
Every time i hear Atari, i am asking how the hell they are still alive.

It isn't really them. Even the previous Atari wasn't really Atari. The real Atari retired years ago and is living like a king in Patagonia. It's all about buying and selling a recognizable name, just like the dread pirate Roberts.

Originally Posted by screeg
Every time they're on the verge of annihilation, some bigger, cash-burdened corporation buys them out. Today's Atari has zero relation to the company that created arcade classics. Irritating that they call out that ancient and unrelated history in the article.

The Atari that created the arcade classics is quite literally a different Atari. Atari split into two companies in 1984, one for its arcade game division, and the other for its home video consoles and games. The former was called "Atari Games", while the latter retained the original "Atari" name.

Atari Games was shutdown in 2003 - at the time of shutdown, it was no longer using the Atari name, and was known as "Midway Games West".

The home portion of Atari is the one that is still alive and that this article refers to. It was sold to Tramel Technology in 1984, then JT Storage in 1996, then Hasbro Interactive in 1998, then Infogrames in 2001.

I found a list of their IP online.
http://news.calyptus.net/wp-content/…IPs-Sept15.pdf

Mostly arcade stuff it seems.

Originally Posted by Stingray
The Atari that created the arcade classics is quite literally a different Atari. Atari split into two companies in 1984, one for its arcade game division, and the other for its home video consoles and games. The former was called "Atari Games", while the latter retained the original "Atari" name.

Atari Games was shutdown in 2003 - at the time of shutdown, it was no longer using the Atari name, and was known as "Midway Games West".

The home portion of Atari is the one that is still alive and that this article refers to. It was sold to Tramel Technology in 1984, then JT Storage in 1996, then Hasbro Interactive in 1998, then Infogrames in 2001.

Depends on your perspective. Atari already created arcade classics before the split, that's where their licences come from. Because everything Atari Games created belongs to Warner Bros Interactive now (Warner bought the rights after Midway's bankruptcy - for the third time). Tramel's portion of Atari indeed closed after the merger with JTS, Hasbro Interactive only bought the name and IP and used it for a few projects of their own. It was Infogrames (Alone in the Dark) and especially their subsidiary GT Interactive who rebranded to Atari and became the core of Atari today.