Atari’s latest acquisition is a game preservation power play

By Tomas Franzese October 31, 2023

Atari

Atari continues to grow its stake in the game remaster market with the acquisition of Digital Eclipse, the developer behind 2022’s fantastic Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration collection.

Digital Eclipse has existed since the early 1990s but has made a name for itself over the last decade or so in creating fantastic remastered collections like Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection. More recently, it has honed a documentary-style presentation for titles like Atari 50 and The Making of Karateka, providing thorough looks at the history of important companies and games. Atari seems interested in growing its library of IP and stake in retro re-releases, so it’s understandable why Atari would purchase Digital Eclipse following its acquisition of the System Shock remake’s Nightdive Studios earlier in the year.

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It’s a $20 million acquisition, with Atari paying $6.5 million when the deal closes soon and another $13.5 million over the next decade if Digital Eclipse meets performance targets. As for what this means when it comes to Digital Eclipse functioning day-to-day, an FAQ on the developer’s website goes into more detail.

Digital Eclipse confirms that while this acquisition will give it greater access to the library of franchises that Atari owns, it is not locked into only working on Atari properties. The Gold Master Series that The Making of Karateka is a part of will continue as well, with Digital Eclipse teasing that the next entry is almost done in a recent newsletter. Ultimately, Digital Eclipse seems to hope that Atari’s support will mainly give them more resources to continue to refine projects that align with what the studio is already known for, including a Wizardry: Proving Ground of the Mad Overlord remake that’s currently in early access on Steam.

“Our experience collaborating on Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration was revelatory. The trust that Atari showed our team, and our clear mutual love and respect for the content, positioned us to produce something truly remarkable,” Digital Eclipse President Mike Mika said of the acquisition. “I know Atari will continue to champion our approach and that we will be bringing fans exciting new projects for years to come.”

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Gaming Staff Writer

As a Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

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Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Trailer
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Eclipsing other collections
Digital Eclipse has been bringing old games to new platforms for years -- it made Atari game collections for the original PlayStation. Over time, it has slowly put more effort into its approach, moving beyond mere emulation. Earlier this year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection included the Turtle’s Lair, which had boxes, manuals, ads, catalogs, comics, TV show clips, and development document. Atari 50 takes that one step further by transforming similar content into exhibit-like Interactive Timelines.
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The context art is created in and the legacy it leaves behind are as important as the art itself ...

Meanwhile, “The Dawn of PCs” recounts Atari’s efforts in the PC space from the Atari 400 and 800 in 1979 until the rare Atari Falcon’s release in 1992. Finally, “The 1990s and Beyond” covers everything else, emphasizing the Atari Lynx handheld and 32-bit Atari Jaguar home console. Games will pop up as players navigate these timelines, and you can play them at the press of a button. As is always the case with Digital Eclipse collections, the emulation is smooth, and players can access various visual filters and even the instruction manuals when pausing.
On top of that, almost every game included has some piece of trivia, scanned development document or ad, preserved commercial, or relevant interview to check out. Notable former Atari developers like Pong creator Al Alcorn and programmer Tod Frye frequently appear in these videos, but other prominent industry figures like Double Fine’s Tim Schafer and former Epic Games dev Cliff Bleszinski show up to offer their thoughts. The context art is created in and the legacy it leaves behind are as important as the art itself, so it’s incredible to see Digital Eclipse’s effort to include all this supplemental information.