In a press release spotted by Ars Technica yesterday, Atari announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to "separate from the structural financial encumbrances of their French parent holding company, Atari S.A. (formerly Infogrames S.A.) and secure independent capital for future growth, primarily in the areas of digital and mobile games." The most recent PC title published by Atari was Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. It also handled most of the Dungeons & Dragons products in recent years, as well as the North American editions of the Witcher franchise.
"Within the next 90-120 days, the Companies expect to effectuate a sale of all, or substantially all, of their assets in a "sale free and clear" under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code or to confirm plans of reorganization that accomplish substantially the same result," the release states. From a laygamer's perspective, it doesn't sound like Atari will be hanging onto its high-profile licenses.
It seems it will continue to exist under the Atari name, but the stated focus on "the areas of digital and mobile games" casts some doubt on whether it will remain relevant in the PC gaming world. The next upcoming Dungeons & Dragons title, Cryptic's Neverwinter, will be published by Perfect World. The Witcher series is currently published in the EU by Namco Bandai, which may be positioned to take over the North American and Australian releases.
You can read the full press release on PRNewsWire , and for more reading, Ars Technica broke down just how today's Atari compares to the Atari of the '70s.
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