Atari SA

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Atari SA

logo
legal form Société anonyme
ISIN FR0010478248
founding June 1, 1983 (as Infogrames Entertainment)
2009 (name changed to Atari SA)
Seat Paris , FranceFranceFrance 
management Frédéric Chesnais, CEO & Chairman
Number of employees 18 (March 31, 2017)
sales 15.4 million euros (FY 2016/2017)
Branch Software development
Website www.atari.com

Atari SA , based in Paris, is a French listed manufacturer of computer games . The company emerged from the French development studio founded in 1983 under the name Infogrames . Through numerous acquisitions, the company temporarily rose to become one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of computer games. With the takeover of Hasbro Interactive , the company also acquired the naming rights of the former console manufacturer Atari . After the company had already renamed several subsidiaries to Atari in 2003 and published all of its games under this label, the group itself was finally renamed from Infogrames Entertainment SA to Atari SA in 2009.

Company history

1983: Founding as Infogrames

Company founder Bruno Bonnell in 2008.

Infogrames (pronunciation: ɛ̃fɔˈɡʁam (French) , ˌɪnfoʊˈɡræmz (English) ) was founded on June 1, 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet in Lyon . The name was a suitcase word consisting of the French words "informatique" (computer science) and "program" (program). The company logo of the company showed the image of an armadillo combined with the company logo. One of the company's best-known titles was the survival horror game Alone in the Dark , published in 1992 .

1996: Expansion through acquisitions

From 1996 to 2002, the company began to gradually expand with the global takeover of numerous competitors and thus temporarily rose to become the world's third largest manufacturer of game software after Electronic Arts and Vivendi Universal Games in the 2001/2002 financial year . The aim was to first gradually expand Infograme's presence to other countries, then later to increase the output of new games. However, these enlargements were bought at the expense of the group's increasing debt. The total debt of the group in 2000 was 600 million US dollars. The details of the companies taken over were:

  • 1996: Ocean Software for around 100 million US dollars, then renamed Infogrames UK.
  • 1997: Philips Media BV , including Bomico (Germany), Ecudis (France) and Leisuresoft (Great Britain). The Bomico entertainment software and hardware Vertriebs GmbH (HRB 34030, AG Offenbach am Main) renamed Infogrames Deutschland GmbH.
  • 1998: Acquisition of a majority stake of 62.5% in the Australian distributor OziSoft in December, which was renamed Infogrames Australia; in April 2002 the remaining shares were also acquired.
  • 1999: Acquisition of Gremlin Interactive for $ 40 million in April, renamed Infogrames Sheffield House; Closing in 2003.
  • 1999: Accolade was acquired in April for $ 50 million in cash; Infogrames announced additional investments of $ 10 million after the acquisition. Infogrames hoped that the takeover would broaden its product range and give it a stronger foothold in the US market.
  • 1999: A studio of the Australian developer Beam Software became part of the company, later renamed Infogrames Melbourne House Pty Ltd.
  • 2000: Paradigm Entertainment was sold for $ 19.5 million and Canadian developer Den-o-Tech Int. (DTI) acquired for $ 5.6 million; the latter will later be renamed Infogrames DTI .
  • 2002: Takeover of ABS Multimedia, Arcadia and the Swiss Gamecity GmbH.

Some of these acquisitions, such as Accolade and Gremlin, were later described by Bonnell as mistakes in a 2004 interview.

1999: Acquisition of GT Interactive

Major acquisitions included the purchase of a 70% stake in US publisher GT Interactive in December 1999 for $ 135 million and the assumption of corporate debt for $ 75 million.

The company GT Interactive, founded in 1993, was u. a. through the Adventure Discworld Noir and through the distribution of games such as B. Unreal , Doom , Duke Nukem , Blood , Prisoner of Ice and the first Oddworld games are known. At the time of the takeover, the publisher was in dire financial straits and had been looking for a merger or buyer with the help of the investment bank Bear Stearns . Infogrames, at that time the largest European computer game publisher, came into possession of the American distribution network and the company's software catalog, including the Driver and Deer Hunter series of games . There were also seven development studios belonging to GT Interactive, including Humongous Entertainment , Legend Entertainment and Reflections Interactive . GT Interactive was renamed Infogrames, Inc. in May 2000.

2001: Takeover of Hasbro Interactive

In January 2001 it was followed by the acquisition of Hasbro Interactive, the software division of the Hasbro group for 100 million, paid for by 4.5 million Infogrames common shares valued at 95 million US dollars and five million US dollars in cash. Infogrames took over the developer and publisher MicroProse and its branches, including the rights to its civilization , Falcon , Grand Prix and RollerCoaster Tycoon series . The takeover also included the naming rights of the former console and game manufacturer Atari and its products, including the titles Centipede , Missile Command and Pong . In addition, Infogrames received the exclusive rights to develop and sell computer games based on Hasbro game brands for 15 years plus a performance-based option for a further five years, including the brands Dungeons & Dragons , Monopoly , Scrabble , Risk , Cluedo and Mr. Potato Head and My Little Pony . Hasbro Interactive was renamed Infogrames Interactive, Inc. after the acquisition. The MicroProse development studio in Great Britain closed on September 20, 2002.

The last major acquisitions of this period were the full takeover of French developer Eden Studios for $ 4.1 million, in which the company had previously owned a 19.8% stake, and US developer Shiny Entertainment for $ 47 million. This gave Infogrames the rights to the titles V-Rally 3 and Test Drive Unlimited (Eden Games), as well as Enter the Matrix (Shiny Entertainment), the first computer game based on the film license for The Matrix .

2003: Conversion to the Atari Group

With the release of MX Rider in 2001, Infogrames released important large-scale productions under the Atari label. In May 2003, all of the Group's operating units were renamed Atari, with the group holding company continuing to maintain its name as Infogrames SA. Infogrames, Inc. (formerly GT Interactive) has since traded as Atari, Inc. Infogrames Interactive (formerly Hasbro Interactive) was renamed Atari Interactive, Infogrames UK into Atari UK. Infogrames acted similarly with its other distribution branches: Infogrames Australia Pty Ltd became Atari Australia Pty Ltd. The company had already bought the rights to the Atari name in January 2001, together with the Hasbro Interactive division, from Hasbro .

Since acquiring GT Interactive, Infogrames' focus has increasingly shifted to the US market. At the time of the name change, the publisher was generating around 65% of its sales in the USA. The US subsidiary, however, had to struggle with frequent changes in management and remained in heavy deficit. In July 2006, Reflections and the Driver license were sold to the French publisher Ubisoft. In October 2006 the development studio Shiny was sold to Foundation 9.

2007–2011: Frequently changing management and withdrawal from Europe

On April 5, 2007 it was announced that the last remaining Infogrames founder and long-time company director Bruno Bonnell had left the company. The French Patrick Leleu became the new CEO and Chairman . Bonnell's departure was generally well received on the stock exchange, and analysts saw this step as an opportunity to reorient the company. On the day of the announcement, the value of the Infogrames share increased by 24%. Already since September 2006 a procedure for the exclusion from trading on the NASDAQ technology exchange had been running against the long-ailing US subsidiary Atari, Inc., which at that time was 51.4% owned by Infogrames , because the value was permanently below the The mandatory stamp of one dollar had fallen. On September 5, 2007, the share was finally withdrawn from trading. Infogrames therefore took over the remaining shares in its US subsidiary for around eleven million US dollars and responded with a radical reorganization of the board of directors of Atari, Inc. and the posting of an interim CEO. In March 2008, Jim Wilson was finally appointed President and CEO of Atari, Inc., while the head of the group, Leleu, had already resigned from his position in January 2008. He was followed by former EA manager David Gardner as CEO and Phil Harrison, former head of Sony Studios Worldwide, as president. Under Gardner and Harrison, Atari sold 34% of its subsidiary Atari Europe to the Japanese publisher Namco Bandai in September 2008 . In December 2008, Infogrames acquired the MMO-specialist developer Cryptic Studios for US $ 28 million and an additional US $ 48 million in success-based bonuses, mainly to reorganize its US subsidiary Atari, Inc.

Finally, in May 2009, there were several decisive changes. On May 14, it was announced that Infogrames would sell its European distribution subsidiary Atari Europe completely to Namco Bandai and thus withdraw from the European sector. The US subsidiary Atari, Inc. remained unaffected. Since the Atari name was also more well known and the different company names were sometimes perceived as confusing by the public, Infogrames Entertainment SA was also renamed Atari SA. Phil Harrison also retired from his position as President and thus from the management, but remained associated with the company as Director of the Group. At the same time, the former COO of THQ and CEO of Take 2 , Jeff Lapin , was hired as the new Chief Operating Officer .

On December 11, 2009, David Gardner resigned from the post of Managing Director of Atari SA, and was succeeded by Lapin, who ran the company from Los Angeles. He was supported by a so-called Executive Committee consisting of Jim Wilson (CEO Atari, Inc.), John Needham (CEO Cryptic Studios), Fabrice Hamaide ( CFO Atari SA) and Alexandra Fichelson (General Secretary). In April 2010, Nolan Bushnell , 1973 founder of the original console manufacturer Atari, became a consultant and board member of the company. Lapin left the company in December 2010, his successor at the head of the entire group was the previous President and CEO of the US subsidiary Atari, Inc., Jim Wilson. In the same financial year, the company's headquarters were relocated from Lyon to Paris.

In May 2011, Atari sold its development studio Cryptic Studios for 35 million euros or 49.8 million US dollars in cash to the Chinese company Perfect World , after the company had lost only 12.6 million euros and the two years before Had recorded 5.3 million euros.

2013: rescue and restructuring

At the end of January 2013, the company announced that it would have to declare bankruptcy after the US subsidiary Atari, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the aim of separating itself from the parent company. The triggers were, among other things, the efforts of the main shareholder BlueBay, announced in 2010, to sell its shares in the company; Since no suitable new shareholder could be found, the US subsidiary was forced to apply for bankruptcy protection. Shortly afterwards, on February 5, 2013, it became known that the bankruptcy of the parent company, Atari SA, could be avoided: Frédéric Chesnais, CFO and COO of Infogrames Entertainment from 2001 to 2004 and CEO of the subsidiary Atari Interactive from 2004 to 2007, through his Investment firm Ker Ventures took over 25.23% of the company from BlueBay and provided short-term capital of 250,000 euros. Chesnais symbolically paid 400 euros for BlueBays 7,451,122 share certificates and mandatory convertible bonds equivalent to a further 5,528,736 shares. Chesnais has been named CEO of Atari SA with the deal. At the same time, the investor Alden Fund, which specializes in restructuring, took over a EUR 21 million corporate loan from BlueBay and provided Atari with a further five million US dollars in financing.

Since the search for a suitable buyer for Atari, Inc. was unsuccessful, the US subsidiary announced that it would offer all remaining rights, including the Atari brand, in an auction in July 2013. Atari SA, which saw its fate closely linked to the outcome of the bankruptcy proceedings of its US subsidiary in a statement to its shareholders on May 15, began selling trademark rights, such as the rights to its action-adventure Outcast , the strategy series Desperados and the role-playing game Silver . On June 25, 2013 it was announced that Nordic Games had acquired the trademark rights to Silver and Desperados . The rights to Outcast were sold back to the game's creators. Ultimately, however, a sufficiently high bid was not submitted for the Atari, Inc. portfolio. Instead, the subsidiary drew up an insolvency plan that was approved by the Manhattan bankruptcy court in December 2013.

At the end of March, Atari announced a partnership with FlowPlay to develop a casino game with Atari classics for web browsers, social networks and mobile devices, and in April 2014 the company released the smartphone title Rollercoaster Tycoon 4 Mobile . In May 2014, Chesnais told Venture Beat that he wanted to reposition the Atari brand due to the changeable past and numerous changes of ownership and bring it back to its original core identity. In future, the company will therefore primarily commission external studios to develop games for existing Atari brands and concentrate on the production and distribution of these. At the same time, however, he also indicated considerations to get back into the hardware business and want to revive Atari as a lifestyle brand. With Haunted House: Cryptic Graves (2014), Alone in the Dark: Illumination (2015) and RollerCoaster Tycoon World (2016) Atari has released successors to well-known own brands. In 2018 Atari started a partnership with Animoca Brands . In 2020, ATARI announced the release of its Atari VCS console .

Games

Only games are listed that were developed and published by Infogrames before the switch to the Atari name. For games under the Atari logo, see listing in article Atari, Inc. (2003) .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Infogrames: History . In: Official German website . Archived from the original on October 8, 1999. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  2. a b Scott Steinberg: Bruno Bonnell Interview ( English ) In: 1UP . September 13, 2004. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  3. a b Jon Jordan: The Euro Vision: 'Bye-Bye Bruno' ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM, plc. April 11, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  4. a b c Dominique Vidalon, Marcel Michelson: Infogrames shares shine after chairman leaves | Reuters ( English ) Reuters. April 5, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  5. Mergers & Acquisitions - UK News 1996 ( English ) Ukbusinesspark.co.uk. Archived from the original on August 28, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  6. a b Atari UK Ltd. ( English ) In: MobyGames . Blue Flame Labs . March 13, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  7. Infogrames: Philips Media Transferred Multimedia Assets to Infogrames ( English ) In: Official press release . The Free Library. February 3, 1997. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  8. Jeanne-Vida Douglas: Ozisoft becomes Infogrames Australia ( English ) In: ZDNet Australia . Point Davis . August 28, 2002. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved on August 17, 2012.
  9. a b Atari: Frequently Asked Questions - Who is Atari Australia and New Zealand? ( English ) In: Official site . Atari. Archived from the original on February 18, 2005. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  10. Infogrames: Infogrames Buys UK Games Company Gremlin ( English ) In: Computergram International . The Free Library. March 25, 1999. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  11. Infogrames: France's Infogrames Grows in US With $ 60m Accolade Buy ( English ) In: Computergram International . The Free Library. April 20, 1999. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  12. ^ Company News; Accolade Is Bought By Infogrames Entertainment ( English ) In: The New York Times . April 20, 1999. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  13. Krome Studios Melbourne ( English ) In: MobyGames . Blue Flame Labs . October 21, 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  14. ^ Infogrames Gets Control of GT Interactive - New York Times . In: New York Times , The New York Times Company, November 16, 1999. Retrieved August 17, 2012.  
  15. a b Infogrames Gets Control of GT Interactive (English) . In: The New York Times , November 16, 1999. Retrieved May 4, 2010.  
  16. Infogrames: Infogrames Entertainment Completes Acquisition of Controlling Stake in GT Interactive Software ( English ) In: Official press release . The Free Library. December 17, 1999. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  17. Infogrames: GT Interactive to Adopt Infogrames Brand Across the Company and Its Products ( English ) In: Official press release . The Free Library. May 10, 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  18. Hasbro Completes Sale Of Interactive Business (English) . In: New York Times , The New York Times Company, January 30, 2001. Retrieved August 17, 2012.  
  19. Infogrames: Infogrames Entertainment to Acquire Hasbro Interactive and Games.com ( English ) In: Official press release . The Free Library. December 6, 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  20. ^ Leonard Herman: Company Profile: Atari . In: Mark JP Wolf (Ed.): The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond . ABC-CLIO, 2008, ISBN 978-0-313-33868-7 , pp. 61 ( online view ).
  21. Sam Parker: Infogrames closes UK MicroProse studio ( English ) In: GameSpot . CBS . March 21, 2008. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  22. Axel Strohm: Infogrames buys Eden Studios ( English ) In: GameSpot . CBS . October 22, 2002. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  23. Infogrames: Infogrames Acquires both Shiny Entertainment and Exclusive Matrix License ( English ) Gamezone. April 25, 2002. Archived from the original on March 8, 2005. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  24. Infogrames: Infogrames Reinvents Atari With Shipment of MXrider, Splashdown For PlayStation 2 ( English ) In: Official press release . The Free Library. October 31, 2001. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  25. Infogrames: Infogrames Adopts Legendary Atari Brand in Worldwide Name Change ( English ) In: Official press release . The Free Library. May 7, 2003. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  26. Tony Smith: Infogrames re-christens itself Atari ( English ) In: The Register . May 7, 2003. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  27. Tim Surette: Ubisoft gets Driver's license ( English ) In: GameSpot . CBS Interactive . July 13, 2006. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  28. Jason Dobson: Foundation 9 Acquires Shiny From Atari ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM, plc . October 2, 2002. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  29. Bruno Bonnell - Atari boss leaves the company after 24 years ( English ) In: GameStar . IDG . April 5, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  30. Leigh Alexander: Atari Officially Delisted From Nasdaq ( English ) In: Kotaku . Gawker Media . December 9, 2008. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  31. Phil Elliott: Infogrames completes Atari Inc acquisition ( English ) In: Gamesindustry.biz . Gamers Network . October 11, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  32. Infogrames unveils changes to US Atari unit board ( English ) Reuters. October 8, 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  33. Mark Androvich: Atari Inc appoints Wilson CEO ( English ) In: Gamesindustry.biz . Gamers Network . March 31, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  34. Michael French: David Gardner named as new Atari CEO ( English ) In: MCV UK . Intent Media . January 31, 2008. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved on May 25, 2013.
  35. Jack Schofield: Atari to attempt its sixth coming under David Gardner and Phil Harrison ( English ) In: The Guardian . March 5, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  36. Toml Ivan: Namco Bandai To Swallow Atari Europe ( English ) In: Edge . Future plc . May 14, 2009. Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved on May 25, 2013.
  37. David Jenkins: Atari Parent Acquires Cryptic Studios ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM, plc . December 9, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  38. Tim Ingham: Goodbye Atari, hello Namco ( English ) In: MCV UK . Intent Media . May 14, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  39. Peter Steinlechner: Atari disappears from Europe . In: Golem.de . May 14, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  40. ^ Brian Ashcraft: Infogrames Is Now Atari ( English ) In: Kotaku . Gawker Media . May 29, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  41. Jörg Benne: k & k: Infogrames is called Atari, Shellshock 2 indexed, Hearts of Iron 3 . In: Gamecaptain . Maiwald & Benne GbR. May 29, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  42. Justin Haywald: Atari Sheds Infogrames Branding ( English ) In: 1UP . News Corporation . May 29, 2009. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016. Retrieved on August 17, 2012.
  43. Tim Ingham: Phil Harrison leaves Atari post ( English ) In: MCV UK . Intent Media . May 29, 2009. Archived from the original on July 19, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  44. James Brightman: Atari Appoints Jeff Lapin to CEO, Replacing David Gardner ( English ) In: Industry Gamers . December 11, 2009. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved on May 25, 2013.
  45. Peter Steinlechner: Nolan Bushnell is back at Atari . In: Golem.de . April 20, 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  46. Leigh Alexander: Lapin Leaves Atari, Wilson To Step Up As CEO ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM, plc . December 23, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  47. ^ Atari SA: Anual Financial Report / Registration Document. Fiscal Year 2010/2011 ( English , pdf; 1.6 MB) In: Official site . Atari SA. Retrieved August 17, 2012: “Jim Wilson, the CEO of Atari Inc. was appointed to the Board of Atari SA in October, and CEO of the Group in December. The Group's headquarters was moved from Lyon to Paris. "
  48. Dean Takahashi: Atari sells Star Trek Online maker Cryptic Studios to Perfect World ( English ) In: VentureBeat . May 30, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  49. Dean Takahashi: Atari sells Star Trek Online maker Cryptic Studios to Perfect World ( English ) In: VentureBeat . May 30, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  50. Ben Fritz: Atari US operation files for bankruptcy ( English ) In: Los Angeles Times . January 20, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
  51. Loek Essers: Former Atari CEO bids to save his old gaming company from bankruptcy ( English ) In: Computerworld . IDG . February 5, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  52. Sinan Kubba: Atari Inc. seeks to generate $ 22M by auctioning assets in July ( English ) In: Joystiq . AOL . May 23, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  53. Andre Linken: Nordic Games - Publisher secures the rights to Desperados and Silver ( English ) In: GameStar . IDG . June 25, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  54. Martin Gaston: Outcast IP returns to original developers ahead of franchise revival ( English ) In: GameSpot . CBS Interactive . July 2, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  55. Alex Wawro: Atari's bankruptcy escape plan is court-approved ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM, plc . December 13, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  56. ^ Owen S. Good: Atari pushes into 'social casino' market with mobile developer ( English ) In: Polygon . Vox Media . March 30, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  57. Eric Johnson: Atari to RollerCoaster Tycoon Fans: “We Are Not Deaf” ( English ) In: Re / Code . April 18, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  58. Stephen Kleckner: What is Atari in 2014? New chief says it's 'way, way' beyond T-shirts and licensing ( English ) In: Venture Beat . May 18, 2014. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
  59. Atari acquires stake in Animoca Brands as part of block chain game deal. Accessed March 27, 2020 (English).
  60. https://www.blockchaingamer.biz/news/14564/atari-vcs-first-blockchain-gaming-console/