The U.S. division of the classic game maker Atari filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday evening as a move to help separate themselves from parent company Atari S.A.
Atari is most well-known for their classic game franchises and their video game consoles which revolutionized home entertainment. After several console failures in the late 1980’s, the company focused solely on retail games, mostly involving ports of their classic game franchises, and eventually left retail development in 2010 to focus on the mobile market. This change helped the company get out of debt, and the past two years have seen “consecutive annual profits.”
According to the statement released by Atari, the company has filed for bankruptcy to get away from their French counterpart, which is currently dealing with “structural financial encumbrances.” Atari Inc. is currently looking to sell their classic franchises, most notably Pong, Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Battlezone, and Tempest, in order to “secure independent capital for future growth.”
The company is set to continue development for Android and iOS devices, and hopes to receive $5.25 Million in debtor-possession-financing from Tenor Capital Management.
This marks the second company to file for bankruptcy in only a couple of months, as THQ recently fell into financial troubles. Like Atari, they are continuing development of their current projects, which will most likely be sold to outside companies.
