Atari has announced it's bringing back its Infogrames label as a publishing wing, and the newly-minted label's first acquisition has also been revealed.
Infogrames is actually the name under which Atari (that's the holding company Atari, not Atari Interactive or Atari Inc) was originally known before it rebranded to Atari in 2003.
Now, the label is returning as a publishing wing of Atari, which means that Infogrames, which is also the original name of one of the three companies known as Atari, will operate under Atari. I'll give you a sec to go and grab some painkillers before reading on.
In its official announcement, Atari says the Infogrames label will publish games that fall outside the traditional purview of Atari's core IP portfolio. It'll be involved in "expanding digital and physical distribution" and also "developing new collections and sequels".
According to Atari, the revived publisher's portfolio will grow through acquisition, and some of the acquisitions made by the label "may also include some of the legacy titles first published by Infogrames".
Atari is remaining tight-lipped about what these "legacy titles" might be. The label was a sizable name in its day, encompassing franchises like Oddworld, Unreal, and Neverwinter Nights, but it's unlikely that most of those franchises will make their way back under the Infogrames umbrella.
Still, Infogrames has already announced its first acquisition in the form of wacky sandbox delivery sim Totally Reliable Delivery Service, which it has purchased from former owner tinyBuild.
Atari also says that game preservation is at the core of the new Infogrames' mission, so we may well see some of the older franchises with which the company was involved making a return.
It's fair to say that Atari's financial fortunes have wavered somewhat in recent years.
The company was purchased by CEO Wade Rosen back in 2022 after a rough year financially, but it has since made moves like buying up classic arcade franchises, acquiring Atari 50 developer Digital Eclipse, and making a $2 million investment in indie publisher tinyBuild.
We'll have to wait and see what Infogrames' first move after acquiring Totally Reliable Delivery Service will be. Will we see some classic franchises returning to the fold? We can only hope so.
