Atari has entered an agreement to purchase Night Dive Studios, the developer behind the upcoming System Shock remake.
The acquisition was announced last night (March 23) and will see Atari pay £4million ($5million) in cash and £4million in new Atari shares.
Announcing the agreement, Atari shared that it is looking to increase its game catalogue and use Night Dive’s proprietary engine that makes it easier to play older games on modern platforms.
Atari owns a long list of retro game titles, while Night Dive Studios is best known for its upcoming System Shock remake, along with remastering and porting older games like Shadow Man, Quake, Turok and Doom.
“Night Dive’s proven expertise and successful track record in commercializing retro IP is well-aligned with Atari’s strategy,” shared Wade Rosen, chairman and CEO of Atari. “I am confident that their combined talent, technology and IP portfolio will contribute to Atari’s future success.”
Meanwhile, Night Dive principals Stephen Kick and Larry Kuperman said: “Night Dive and Atari have a long history together and we know that Atari shares our passion for retro games and our focus on producing high-quality new and remastered games that do justice to the original IP.”
“As we look to grow our business and expand our capabilities, we could think of no better long-term partner than Atari,” the pair added.
The announcement comes two weeks after Night Dive announced that System Shock‘s release would be delayed by several months.
However, the studio also shared a release date for the remake’s PC version, which is now set to launch on May 30.
“We had hoped to bring the game to market by the end of March, but that turned out to be just beyond our reach; we are after all merely human (unlike Shodan!),” explained Night Dive.
In other gaming news, Valve has officially revealed Counter-Strike 2.
