It’s not strange to hear about video game publishers and developers buying up new and shiny IPs; what is strange, though, is a developer going the other way and buying up the classics – which is precisely what Atari has just gone and done.
In a move that no one saw coming, Atari, the games company that dominated the market in the 1970s and are responsible for an entire generation falling in love with video games, has acquired the rights to more than 100 PC and console titles from the 1980s to the 1990s.
Plans to return to the classics have been in motion at Atari for a while already and started when they purchased Nightdive Studios to help lead the charge.
Nightdive is a company known for releasing classic games onto modern platforms, including Doom 64, System Shock, Blood, Turok, Quake, and Blade Runner.
The director of business development at Nightdive, Larry Kuperman, has said this acquisition is only a part of the greater plan to build a new Atari.
“The new Atari is dedicated to the same principles of bringing back classic and classic-style games that Nightdive has always pursued”.
So far, it’s yet to be seen which games Atari has purchased, with the only ones announced being Bubsy, Hardball, Demolition Racer series, F-14 air combat series and 1942 Pacific Air War F-117A.
What do you think of Atari buying up some classics? Are you excited to dive back into some of these titles if they are rereleased, or could you care less? Let us know in the comments.