The Metamorphosis Of Atari
A little more than a year ago Atari snatched up Sony’s Phil Harrison and went into a hibernation of sorts, cocooning itself away from the media as it and parent company Infogrames worked to reinvent itself.
Today the two companies are now a single, more streamlined publisher and developer working to strike a balance between creating new titles and resurrecting some of Atari’s classics.
Gone are some games, gone is the name Infogrames and gone too is Harrison as president of the company. Now the charismatic Englishman will serve as the non-executive Director of the Group. While Jeff Lapin, formerly of THQ, has joined the board as Chief Operating Officer.
“Phil’s had enormous impact and some of it has been painful for us to do,” said David Gardner, CEO and director of Atari. “We needed to get rid of projects that weren’t going to be viable, clean out the old IP portfolio and sign up new things.
“He’s made a huge difference to us, but on the other hand we are mainly going to be in the U.S. and we are simplifying the business and structure.”
Harrison is much happier to be on the board, Gardner said, adding that Harrison’s family recently had a baby.
Part of that streamlining meant dumping a number of older games and reexamining what would work best for the company, Gardner said.
“We did cancel a number of projects throughout the year,” he said “The company’s focus is going to be less on trying to build another giant packaged good company and more on putting out products with a longer subscription model and more web-centric games. Games that take advantage of Atari’s IP.”
Recently acquired developer Cryptic will be working on a new massively multiplayer online game based on an IP that Atari already owns.
“We don’t want to announce any products we are working on per say,” he said. “We have a very valuable catalog of IP that for a long time haven’t been exploited properly. Cryptic is very excited about developing them and are in the process of mocking up things and building prototypes so we can look at them and decide what to greenlight.”
The key to Atari’s success, though, will be in finding the right balance between new IP and reinvigorating classics.
“We are an IP owner,” said Jim Wilson, CEO of Atari. “As an IP owner it is contingent for us to develop our IP.”
Atari recently announced they wouldn’t be exhibiting at E3, leading some to ponder the company’s future line-up of games, past Ghostbusters and Champions Online.
Gardner said the decision was made because the games they have coming out don’t really need the support of a booth at the show. Atari will be making some announcements soon about future titles.
“The decision was not about the money as an overall comment, it was always about the efficiency,” Gardner said. “Atari doesn’t need to be the trend-setter at E3. I’m very comfortable with the decision we made.”
The most noticeable news coming out of Infogrames/Atari this morning was the decision to rename the company simply Atari, a decision that was easy to make but not as easy to implement, Gardner said.
“That’s something we have been planning for awhile,” Gardner said. “Things were messier than I liked when we arrived (at the company.) There was so much confusion about Atari and Infogrames, it was really impressive.
“Our goal was to get things massively streamlined over the year, which we have done.”
But, Gardner added, the brand will mean nothing without the product to support it and Atari is hard at work making sure it does.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@Brian Crecente: woah, I just noticed how few we are. 20k regulars at max.
@Ninja-Blowfish: I thought it was a giant 8-bit sperm at first.
@OutsideTheBox: Star Raiders MMO? It would be difficult for me to resist that.
Vkoslak
So Phil Harrison's resume now reads something like "After taking Sony from first to last place in the console business and putting it into a near-unrecoverable death-spiral, I left to work the same magic on Atari/Infogrames."
OutsideTheBox
@[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D: Why? Atari doesn't own that IP, Midway does. Gauntlet was an Atari Games (coin-op) IP developed after the split and went to Midway when they merged. Infogrames only owns console IP belonging to Atari Corp. (things like Yars' Revenge, Adventure, Star Raiders, etc.). So the IP would more like be something Adventure 2: Wrath of Duck Dragons.
OutsideTheBox
Looks like he's holding his dick. "had an ENORMOUS impact"
I have to say, I thought that was actually a racket, at first, until I read the comments... ._.
But anyways, Atari hasn't really been fit for a long time, so seeing them get active again with new talent such as Phil Harrison is warming my heart and keeping the faith that they can still stay alive in this "economic crisis."
OMG! Tonzura Brothas! (Mudkips!)
@ctorrans: I believe that may be Phil Harrison, but I'm not sure by that...
Not meant to be insulting, but check here for more info:
[en.wikipedia.org]
I'm not sure if that has the info you kneed, so check here instead if you like:
[www.atari.com]
OMG! Tonzura Brothas! (Mudkips!)
@Sullyville: So messy, so messy...
OMG! Tonzura Brothas! (Mudkips!)
@dossantosc: Infogrames/Atari published it. I'm pretty sure Treasure owns it.
I'd actually associated them with anime games for some time. This may mean they're gonna be deeper in that department
SaanZ
@abcFRAG:
what was 'jclt' ?
SaanZ
All I want from Atari is a new RollerCoaster Tycoon game. It probably won't happen, but one can dream.
RockyRan
@Oppy: Hasbro published the first, Infogrames published the second, and Atari published the third. I'm sure they're the ones who have the right to that IP, but sadly I don't think they'll ever do anything anymore with RCT.
Shame. The first game is one of my favorite games of all time. -_-
RockyRan
@NeVeRMoRe666: grossly perverted? hes holding a tennis racket lol...
best wishes to the guys who started it all(for the most part)
Timothy Saskiewicz
@kiramon: I don't think so, it looks grossly perverted to me....
@Brian Crecente: We need to get our minds out of the gutter!
cheers!
@High Speed Indeed: "We are an IP owner," said Jim Wilson, CEO of Atari. "As an IP owner it is contingent for us to develop our IP."
thats what!
@Pult|Ost - Dark Days Are Coming: 98% sure it's a Gauntlet MMO.
[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D
Does this mean they will use the OLD Atari logo (not the new one with the wider middle bottom) ?
@abcFRAG: I Don't need to have Atari games on XBLA. I have the real carts that play on a mod-2600 connected to a 30" LCD. Did you know that Tank was original made in Stereo? And the 2600 can output Component video stock?
And no red ring of death! :P
SigmundTheSeaMonster
@kiramon: Only your kind would think so... I kid..
@HoxtonHero: I have a leg up on you, since I was around during the time when the Atari was cool, but yeah, I knew it was a racquet. go walking history of gaming, woo.
Is that... A sperm?
@Sonicslasher: me too.
I am so ashamed.
Ok, so I actually clicked it because I thought that they were announcing a retro tennis game, and I would be incapable of resisting such a thing.
Yah.
That's it.
@dossantosc: WTF does this have to do with Ikaruga?
@rollypollygirl: I would have said it if you didn't. Is that a verbal comment that Kotaku wrote wrong, though, or is it something released by someone else that Kotaku is just quoting?
@Brian Crecente: I only clicked it because of the dirty picture
Sonicslasher
Ok, Atari is making a comeback more like a publisher but a developer.
I hope that they start to make some quality games and revive some old franchise.
I really would love to see a Atari 2600 compilation for XBLA.
abcFRAG
@Sullyville: It's disemvoweled, but I see what you did there, and LOL'd.. a lot.
abcFRAG
I hope any company nowadays does well and comes up with creative ideas.it seems with this newer generation alot of heart and creativity died.
kenshin643
"We have a very valuable catalog of IP that for a long time haven't been exploited properly."
Exploited being the key word.
It's 'per se' not 'per say'.
rollypollygirl
Looks like the 'new' Atari is going the way of 'new' Akklaim.
Grind_Axis
I'm intrigued now. It's true that Atari have been off the radar, and it's only this article that made me realize that. Guess that's why they needed the make-over if people are forgetting about them.
-Silver-
@Brian Crecente: I think it might have to do with the view that Atari aren't the company they used to be. The game's they've produced/published in the last ten years have been pretty lackluster without any standout titles, at least in my opinion.
I'm glad to see that Atari is attempting to make a comeback. It's a huge, recognizable name that isn't being used to it's full potential. Maybe this is a step in the right direction.
Wow I had to look twice to realise that wasn't what it first looked like...
I'm so confused. Who is Atari's current CEO?
ctorrans
@Sullyville: lay off the porn for awhile. You'll start to see things a bit more clearly.
I'm happy to see so many people reading the article.
@Pult|Ost - Dark Days Are Coming:
Roller Coaster Tycoon MMO
Atari published that, right?
Only Phil Harrison and his experience at Sony would consider corporate confusion "impressive", and even make people believe it.
@Ninja-Blowfish: Haha a one ball penis?
@ninja_warrior: No kidding. I was expecting to see the Kotaku pointing fish to keep it clean in the front page. :-/
MCKWZ
Lks lk h's jrkng ff nd hs jclt s sprm th sz f hs hd.
Sullyville
I'll pay attention if they publish an IKARUGA sequel!!!
A masterpiece in the eyes of a lot of gamers!
IKARUGA FTW
@Pikadrew: umm...you two might want to take another look at that picture...
You heard it here first. Pong MMO.
@kiramon: I also love that picture. Was that a real ad or made for the story?
Took me a while to realise it was meant to be a racquet... looked dirty to me. :-S
Ninja-Blowfish
That picture is cool.
@[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D: Level 54 Druid Needs Food Badly.
Poor Phil, Why he leave Sony in the first place?
Now he can call kutaragi out for a coffee in paris anytime
tingyu
@Ninja-Blowfish: Took me a while to realize it looked like a penis! hahah
JustOneFix