Atari Enters Agreement To Acquire Night Dive Studios

Some of the best shepherds of classic games bought by some of the worst...

I think it’s a good opportunity for Atari moving forward.

Oookay... Well that's out of nowhere...

Nightdive is a great company. I saw a panel presentation by the founder Stephen Kick at last year’s Portland Retro Game Expo. Really cool behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to prepare a retro game like Quake for release in a modern era.

I’m bummed that they’re no longer independent. I can’t see this being a good thing for us.

People kept looking down on Atari for creating the Atari VCS and put them in the same category as the Intellivision Amico and the Coleco Chameleon not knowing that this Atari themselves are also still a developer and had a history of making great games. This acquisition of Night Dive Studio would be a great addition to the evolution of their company.

The difference between Atari (formerly Infogrames) and the other two (the Coleco Chameleon and the Intellivision Amico) is that Atari actually did get rights to that name and they are actual developers and not just a business man buying up brands. The guys who made the Atari Box a.k.a. the Atari VCS actually are actual developers. They made the Dragon Ball games after Bandai and Toei gave them the license and are respectable fans of the series. They are the creator of the Alone in the Dark series, they bought the Atari brand cause Hasbro was going to abandon it, they brought back popular IPs from Atari's past to celebrate those with the fans even though they are not the same Atari, they gave new lights to games like Tempest 4000, Missile Command Recharged, and Yars Recharge while making new IPs like Akka Arrh and Pong Quest, they localize popular games like Ikaruga on GameCube cause Treasure was unable to, they made a new Atari console for the fans despite being label as a scam project by many but still manage to deliver the end product, and they even celebrate Atari's 50th birthday despite being the adopted company of the brand.

If you ask me the newer Atari shows way more respect to Atari's name than the old Atari ever did and they did so way better than any of the other companies that came before Nintendo. If you're gonna remember Atari then remember this, who founded Atari? Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney right? What happen to those two, well one quit the company and the other sold Atari to Warner Communications and then ran to open Chuck E. Cheese and never came back cause of a fallen out. After that Atari's name had been thrown back and forth between Warner, Namco, Tengen, the Kassar family, the Tremiel family, and eventually was sold away to Hasbro like garbage similar to Power Rangers.

When Infogrames bought Atari from Hasbro, had Atari's name ever been sold to any other company? Nope. Now you know who the real Atari are, let this be known Infogrames are the real Atari unless you still care about the two idiots that abandon the company a few years before it could took off. When Infogrames became Atari, Atari was real, it was never sold to anyone else, it made good games and it wants to tell the world they are Atari, they won't abandon the brand like the many that came before it and to this day they still are Atari. People in the gaming community never gave Infogrames the credits that they so deserve. Atari is saved but people still complain that it's not the real Atari, wake up the real Atari is here. It's like Atari finally found its true parents now, sure it's not its birth parents or anything but c'mon at least they are being treated and love by Infogrames unlike the many scumbags that kept selling them to other companies like a pimp selling his prostitutes.

Soulja Boy owns Nightdive now??

As long as we keep getting those awesome remasters/revivals, I’ll be happy! If this means no more than I’ll be pissed; Night Dive are truly respectable and set a great example of what a developer should be.

@Serpenterror ... Is that a copypasta or what, Jesus Christ.

@TheVGMLover Hallelujah!

Atari knocked retro gaming out of the park with Atari 50. I'm a fan of their recharged series. Y'know, it's easy to be sceptical this day and age but I honestly do think they are right. Sure, the Atari brand's history has been a little muddied, but modern Atari is a good fit for Night Dive. I wish them all well. (Hope they release non Atari games still.)

Atari has been on the rise since from around the Switch started. The Recharged series, Atari 50 are joys to have.

I am really glad that the current holder of Atari is doing things small but right. (Maybe the VCS was an overstep but that is about it).

@Serpenterror how it feels to write an essay knowing will ever read?

I'm feelin Atari these days, and though their niche is retro, it just seems to "click". So this should be a win for both parties and I wish them the best.

Ah yes, Atari. Famously known for their smart decisions and respect toward their IP's.

Time for Blockchain-powered Nightdive games

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see this ending well... ah well! It was fun while it lasted, thank you for the memories, Night Dive!

I hope this doesn’t lock Nightdive out of working with other firms. I don’t care as much for Atari’s old games as much as I’d like Nightdive to have a crack at Turok 3. Imagine if they’d gotten to do Goldeneye how good it could have been! Or some other lost N64/PS1 classics. They are masters of early 3D rereleases.

@Serpenterror This company that you call 'real' Atari partnered with an online casino and made their own cryptocurrency. While they've released some good remasters/compilations recently, I think they've done some very questionable decisions.

Besides, it's the IPs from the old Atari that keep this new Atari in business.

Nooooooo!

This will probably stop Night Dive from making other remasters. Was really hoping for Turok 3.

Now, if Atari could just partner up with someone making retro controllers for modern systems. Why are there no paddle controllers for the Switch, for instance?

Hand to heart I thought Atari shuttered years ago, at least a decade. As always: if this leads to good business practices and good games then good.

And on that comment that felt longer than the article: I thought Sony bought Infograms back in the late 90’s.

Yeah, you can put me in the "slightly worried" camp. Praying that my fears are overblown and that this turns out to be a match made in Heaven, because I don't want to lose one of the most consistent studios when it comes to retro games. At least give us those NOLF remasters before you tap out, Nightdive.

The good: Atari is finally back, finally they are a respectful company again, profiting on their past without relying on the past, they are still making sure their retro revivals are cool on their own right.

The bad: I'm sick of videogame companies getting bought, at this rate, someday we will have 5 or 6 companies controlling almost the entire market, the movie market is already like this, Disney, Warner, Paramount, Universal and Sony control almost the whole TV and movie industry.

@LikelySatan
Why do you consider Night Dive Studios as "some of the worst"?

I think that they are doing a really good job of remastering and remaking classic games. Digital Foundries seem to agree too.

I've bought and played most of their games. I'm really looking forward to their remake of System Shock.

@Vriess Um...I think he was called Atari some of the worst.

@Vriess I meant Atari but thought and read a bit and yeah that's a dumb thing to say. They had a pretty long awful spell but have done smart things recently.
Just a bad reaction cause we must protect Nightdive at all costs.

@KoopaTheGamer But they also made Speakerhat. I think we all remember the world before Speakerhat, and I do not want to go back.

Sony will stop them!

@Oppyz666 I read it.

Atari hopefully this isn't patent/IP trolling from Atari cause if it is this will be a real shame if they do this.

I love seeing the Night Dive logo at the beginning of games. I always know I'm in for a quality time.

I just want a proper Atari ST 520 mini, not some emulation crap like Amiga 500 mini

I've got to say also that Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is an absolute delight. I'm not sure how it could have been any better. To me that shows Atari are in good and loving hands.