Atari CEO Fred Takahashi recently spoke with VentureBeat in an interview about the company’s current state and future plans. The company is making some significant moves, including the sale of Alone in the Dark to THQ Nordic, a deal that netted $9.3 million for Atari. In addition, Atari recently entered a blockchain partnership with Animoca Brands and will collaborate on the creation of blockchain versions of Goon Squad and RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch.
Atari vs. Chesnais
The Atari vs. Chesnais battle is an ongoing battle between the two gaming companies. Chesnais, an investor in Infogrames, is attempting to extract value from the brand. He also aims to build a casino and home computer. He is also involved in real estate and blockchain technologies. The games made by Atari were primarily free-to-play, but there are also many mobile titles available.
Chesnais purchased Atari in 2013 when it was in financial trouble. At the time, it had a debt of $34 million and revenues of only $1.2 million. This year, Atari reported a profit of $2.4 million on revenues of $29.4 million. The company also enjoys a resurgence of its brand, thanks to its success across different platforms. Although the company’s license to Rollercoaster Tycoon is due to expire in two years, Chesnais is betting that the franchise will be profitable again.
Chesnais has been the CEO of Atari since 2013. He previously served as the CEO of Atari Interactive from 2004-2007 and as the COO and CFO of Atari S.A. from 2001-2013. He believes in the value of blockchain technology and the societal benefits it can bring. In addition to this, Chesnais is focusing on bringing back the retro appeal of Atari games. He is also launching a new console called the VCS, which looks like a retro console. It is billed as a PC/console hybrid.
Chesnais is also working on a self-driving vehicle, which has yet to catch on. Though this technology hasn’t quite caught on, he is hoping to make the vehicle into a “living room” for its passengers. In addition, Chesnais is developing a Blockchain for the games industry and plans to incorporate ATRI, his blockchain project. In addition, he plans to build Atari themed hotels throughout the United States.
Atari is an iconic gaming company with an incredible history. Despite its failure to capture the imagination of young consumers, it was a pioneer in home console development. The last home console that Atari released, the Jaguar, was discontinued in 1995 after selling only 125,000 units, a small fraction of the Super Nintendo’s 50 million. In 2013, the company filed for bankruptcy protection. In 2013, Chesnais bought Atari and turned it around to become profitable.
Atari vs. Bushnell
Bushnell founded Atari, the company that brought us Chuck E. Cheese’s, and Atari games. While he is widely regarded as one of the leading pioneers in the development of video games, there are other concerns surrounding his behavior. Several rumors have surfaced, including his invitation of a female co-worker to join him in a hot tub at a meeting.
Bushnell was also one of the first video arcade game developers, and he joined forces with Ted Dabney to turn his vision into reality. The pair first launched Computer Space in 1970, but the game wasn’t a commercial success. The pair then reorganized their company, calling themselves Syzygy, and in 1972, they founded Atari, Inc. The company was headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and released its first game, Pong, two years later.
Bushnell later sold Atari to Warner Communications and founded the Chuck E. Cheese game chain and a Pizza Time Theater. In 1977, the Atari 2600 video computer launched, and there were over 500 games available. Some of these included Pac-Man, Superman, and Space Invaders. However, the Atari 2600 was best known for its game Missile Command, which challenged players to defend six cities.
While Bushnell has said he regrets selling Atari, he’s excited about the future of gaming. He believes augmented reality software will allow brands to capitalize on the current popularity of gaming and augmented reality software. He also says that video game development will soon become a multibillion dollar industry.
Bushnell co-founded Atari with Ted Dabney. The company originally had the name Syzygy, which means alignment of celestial bodies. However, when another company used the name Syzygy, Bushnell changed the name to Atari. The company would revolutionize the home gaming market with the Atari 2600.
Bushnell had one employee, Al Alcorn, who had previously worked at Warner Bros. He had originally planned to design a car-driving video game, but later decided to focus on something simpler. Instead, he decided to produce a game where players could move a bat and intercept a ball. This game became known as Pong, and became extremely popular in the 1980s.
Atari vs. HIAC XI Corp.
The first two companies merged in the mid-1980s. The former merged with JTS Inc., a company that produced Atari games. The company then merged with Hasbro Interactive in 1998. The company is still around, but the company is no longer a public company. It is currently part of Hasbro Interactive, which was formed in 1984.
The two companies had been at a standoff for years. Both companies were trying to protect their brands, but the two companies didn’t get along. Hasbro Interactive acquired Atari and had planned to release Centipede in the fall of 1998. Meanwhile, Activision announced that it was developing Asteroids for the PlayStation and PC.
After the merger, Atari Interactive was formed. Its CEO, Tony Fadell, was also involved in the proceedings. The company had two subsidiaries: Atari Interactive and Infogrames U.S. Holdings Inc. The company also had the rights to publish and sublicense Atari products in the United States. Atari Interactive’s Australian division distributes games for Konami of Europe, who owns the Konami Gaming Machines brand.
The company also partnered with Infogrames to develop and distribute Atari video games. It plans to release three new games using the Atari brand in the fall. The companies hope that the new titles will attract a younger demographic. In the meantime, Infogrames will continue to produce casual games and PC games.
In 1988, Atari previewed the XE gaming system at the Winter CES in Las Vegas and at the International TOY FAIR in New York. It shipped an XF551 disk drive with DOS 2.5. It also released the game BattleZone, developed by Ken Rose.
Atari vs. Rob Wyatt
Atari has been battling a longtime employee, Rob Wyatt, who helped design the original Xbox. He left the company in October and is suing Atari for defamation and breach of contract. Atari has not yet responded to the lawsuit, but Polygon has reached out to representatives.
The lawsuit comes as the Xbox creator, Rob Wyatt, is claiming to be owed $261,720 from his former employer Atari. He claims that he was owed money for designing the Atari VCS console and has demanded the company pay for that. Atari has not responded to his claims, so the company is pursuing legal action.
Rob Wyatt resigned from his position at Atari a few years ago, but the company has not paid him for six months of work. The lawsuit was filed because Atari allegedly did not pay him for the work he did, including invoices for $261,720. The company had contracted with Tin Giant to make the system, but did not pay them. Atari claims that the delay was caused by Wyatt’s company, but in reality the lawsuit claims that Wyatt had nothing to do with the delay.
The case argues that Wyatt has been working as an architect for the Atari VCS retro console project for six months, and that he did not receive a single cent. According to The Register, Atari had scaled back many of the original goals of the project. The result is a console that is more like a Linux PC than a games console.
While it is difficult to say who is right, Atari was able to capitalize on the hype surrounding their iconic brand. It raised millions in crowdfunds and hired Wyatt four months after the “launch” date. Atari, however, is not a company that employs many people, and despite their marketing experience, Atari is a shell.
Since Rob Wyatt left, the Atari VCS project has been put in doubt. While Aari has not released a final product date, they have been vague about updates to the project and its software and games. This has led many to speculate that the VCS is vaporware.
