Atari is set to acquire Digital Eclipse, meaning we could soon be in for more cool retro remakes

Atari has entered into an agreement to acquire Digital Eclipse, in a move designed to help the publisher increase its focus on growth through retro-inspired titles.

The deal is expected to be close in the next few days and will see Atari pay up to $20 million for the American studio, which is best known for its remasters of classic titles. For example, it’s released the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection and the Disney Classic Games Collection.

Much like Atari’s recent purchase of Nightdive Studios — creators of this year’s System Shock Remake – the acquisition of Digital Eclipse is being done with the aim of turning Atari into a bit of a retro gaming powerhouse.

“Digital Eclipse is the best in the world at what they do. They have a deep love and respect for the history of the games industry, and are renowned for developing critically acclaimed projects based on historic franchises,” Atari CEO Wade Rosen said regarding the deal.

He added that both Digital Eclipse and Nightdive “are in perfect alignment with Atari’s DNA and renewed purpose.”

In an FAQ on its website, Digital Eclipse wrote: “We’re a small studio with big dreams. Atari is a legendary publisher with a new spirit. We loved working on Atari 50 together. We understand each other. This looked like a great way for both organisations to accomplish a lot of our future goals better and faster together.”

It also emphasised that it still has “the freedom to seek out projects with other parties”, adding that it “has a lot of unannounced projects in the works that do not involve Atari’s IP, and those will carry on as planned”.

The studio added that the Gold Master Series, its documentary project aimed at telling the stories of various important retro titles, shouldn’t be subject to any “restrictions” from Atari going forwards.

In other retro gaming news, Nightdive’s lead engine developer recently let Phil Spencer know they studio would be open to the idea of remastering Hexen, assuming the Xbox boss is serious about making that happen.