Atari Games Invade Steam

In the last few weeks Atari seems to be making a lot of headlines. After years of poor financial results and even poor game sales, Infogrames, the parent company of Atari, seems bent on forging a new and bright future for the Atari name in the games industry.

After Infogrames changed leadership and brought in David Gardner, ex Electronic Arts, and Phil Harrison, former Sony head, both industry veterans with an eye for change, it now seems to be taking the first clear steps towards making Atari a household name again. Valve announced that its Steam digital distribution service will soon offer for sale a large back catalog of Atari Inc. games. The first batch made available for paid download will include RTS Act of War: Direct Action and its sequel, High Treason, ultra real war simulator ArmA: Combat Operations and a collection of old classics called Atari 80 Classics in 1.

Other games, including cult classic Indigo Prophecy and the Neverwinter Nights series, will also be added to Steam, in an effort to generate revenue for Atari. Nizzi Renaud, from Atari's marketing service, said: "Atari is excited to team up with Steam and deliver great games through a digital platform that our fans have asked for. We look forward to making an extensive collection of games, across many genres, available to Steam's extensive, globally-connected community".

Meanwhile, the offer Infogrames made to buy all outstanding Atari Inc. stock and take the company private is facing a bit of a delay, as Atari is bringing in veteran financial consultants Duff & Phelps to consult and is requesting a delay. Even if delayed, the deal is most likely to go through as Infogrames is offering minority Atari shareholders a good premium on the value of their stock.

Only as Atari moves into launching new games in 2008 and as new financial results become available will we be able to see whether Atari's gaming fortunes can be turned around.