Atari has gone and purchased the website AtariAge for an undisclosed fee. Under its new parent company, the site will continue to operate as both a news hub for the company (and retro game scene), and an archive that contains detailed information on Atari hardware and software.
On the AtariAge forums, founder Albert Yarusso confirmed the site will operate as normal and remain under his management. For Atari specifically, he’s been brought on as its internal historian and will “continue to work with homebrew developers seeking to bring new titles to market.”
Yarusso added that Atari considers the site “an invaluable resource…to Atari as a brand and a company.” The developer noted the AtariAge community “has contributed to [Atari’s] long-term resilience…the documentation of the company’s games, and sustained interest in Atari’s legacy hardware and software platforms.”
In a statement provided to GamesIndustry, Atari CEO Wade Rosen wrote the company’s purchase of AtariAge “[ensured] this important resource gets the support it needs to continue to fulfill its mission for years to come.”
All aboard Atari’s retro train
Within the last several years, Atari has placed a greater focus on the retro games space. Much of this investment has come in the form of investing in retro console makers (like Playmaji) or acquiring the rights to retro titles such as Berzerk and Frenzy.
It also meant acquiring developer Nightdive Studios, which has made it its mission to create remakes of classic retro titles. Earlier this year, it released a remake for 1994’s System Shock, and is giving a similar treatment for its sequel, the first Turok games, and Star Wars: Dark Forces.
Acquiring both AtariAge and bringing Yarusso on as a historian within the company helps address a problem with game preservation that persists around the larger industry. As he wrote in a Q&A after the acquisition went public, the developer has recognized the site in part because of its documentation of its past works.