Atari is taking a different approach to publishing. Under CEO Wade Rosen, the company took over the Infogrames label earlier this year publish a “master portfolio of intellectual property associated with the Atari brand,” while also developing new collections and sequels.
Speaking to Game Developer about Atari’s publishing initiative at Gamescom 2024, Rosen said the company hopes to position Infogrames as a “conservative” publisher that can acquire franchises from developers who simply no longer have the resources or bandwidth to support them.
“Infogrames is pretty unique in that we’ve had a lot of opportunities come in for games or IP that people wanted to sell because they felt like they shouldn’t just disappear,” Rosen says, noting that’s why it acquired Totally Reliable Delivery Service, Awesomenauts, and Surgeon Simulator.
As those deals began to pile up, Atari resurrected Infogrames to provide a home for a growing number of franchises that didn’t fit neatly into other parts of the company. “We felt like Infogrames was the right place to have those franchises and continue them. So for Infogrames, these are really games that developers and publishers have moved on from, that probably still have some life left in them,” Rosen continues.
“The aim is therefore [engage in] conservative publishing. What this means for each title will vary. Sometimes it's simply making it accessible on more platforms. Sometimes it's remastering. Sometimes it's sequels.”
Atari boss says company must acknowledge its limitations in 'tough' market
It’s an intriguing model in that Atari isn’t really interested in talking to developers about new projects. Rosen says those deals wouldn’t give the company a “competitive advantage,” and notes that that corner of the market is already dominated by big players like Devolver Digital and Annapurna. Atari isn’t about to step on their toes.
“[We’re really interested in] IPs that have been around for a long time, that people have moved away from. People who want to focus on their future projects and want to raise capital to make new games and focus on those: that's what Infogrames is looking for,” he continues.
“The reason we don't typically consider projects that haven't been released is that I don't think we're any more qualified than anyone else to do it. I don't think we have a competitive advantage. I don't think we're the best in the world at this. Best in class. So, really, why would we do it?”
Rosen says Atari is aiming for “simple” and “clean” IP acquisitions. He believes it’s tough to work on a franchise if there’s a lot of “complications” and red tape. In the long run, pursuing those deals should help the company mitigate risk. That’s key for Rosen.
He acknowledges that publishing is a “tough business” full of uncertainty, which is why you have to carve out a visible niche. “There’s not a really strong moat around this space, so competition can rise and fall quickly. The ones that survive have a strong brand,” he says.
“I think it's the only indie way [publishing] it works. You have to become a publisher that transcends those games, and then have the discipline to choose games that support them. [brand]. That probably means saying “no” to games that might be commercially viable, but might confuse your target demographic. That’s why we started Infogrames.”
Moving forward, Atari is “definitely” in the market for more IP and it's clear Rosen has a personal shopping list. He explains that Atari's rich history in arcades means it's always interested in snapping up vintage tidbits from that era. This coincides with the company's decision to snagged the rights to 100 classic franchises in one fell swoop last year.
It's always worth keeping some ambitious endeavors in mind, too, and Rosen says he'd love to do something with Ogre Battle, the classic tactical RPG currently owned by Square Enix.
“I loved Ogre Battle. I know Tactics Ogre, they just released the remaster, which is basically a port of the PSP game. But I love that world. I would love to see us do something with Ogre Battle at some point,” he adds. “Tactics Ogre is pretty well covered. Even if it's not an acquisition, if Square is reading this, please let us remaster Ogre Battle.”