Atari Goes Bust… Again.

Written by: Dan Seitz | January 21, 2013 at 8:28AM


You may have heard that Atari has gone bankrupt, which is technically true, but not really. It's all part of the long, somewhat sordid, history of a gaming brand often more valued for its logo than its games.

Let's start with what's happening right now. Atari, Inc., formerly GT Interactive, is filing for bankruptcy. This is different from Atari, S.A., the company formerly known as Infogrames.

But this is not the Atari one generally associates with iconic consoles like the Atari 2600. That company was split into Atari Games, an arcade developer, and Atari Corp., which made home consoles, in the mid-1980s. That company put out the Lynx and the Jaguar before being bought by Hasbro Interactive in 1996, which was essentially a purchase of the logo and intellectual property. Hasbro kept it until 2000 before selling it to Infogrames, S.A.. Infogrames had, in the meantime, bought GT Interactive and renamed in Infogrames Inc., and renamed itself Atari in 2009. Infogrames S.A. was now Atari S.A., and Infogrames Inc. was now Atari, Inc., the company declaring bankruptcy.

The "new" Atari hasn't made much of a splash over the last decade or so. Although it's had successful franchises, and even published games like The Witcher, it hasn't reached the heights of companies like Activision.

So now, Atari, Inc. is selling the logo and all the games it owns the rights to as it transitions to a digital and mobile focus.

In other words, somebody else will buy the rights, and Atari will continue.

Our Take: So, out of curiosity, is Atari still legally a company, or can we classify it as a zombie?

Press Release:




The company has recently launched a slew of chart-topping titles for iOS and Android mobile platforms, including Atari Greatest Hits, Outlaw, Breakout and Asteroids Gunner. The company has previously announced upcoming mobile and tablet games based upon the popular Rollercoaster Tycoon franchise and Atari Casino.


