Atari Interactive, Inc. is an American subsidiary ofAtari SA which is the current owner of theAtari brand name, which it licenses to its parent company. The company was originally founded by toy companyHasbro in 1995^[1] asHasbro Interactive, Inc., based inBeverly, Massachusetts;^[2] it was sold toInfogrames at the beginning of 2001 becomingInfogrames Interactive, Inc. before adopting its current name in 2003.

Atari Interactive, Inc.

Formerly	Hasbro Electronic Entertainment (1995–1996) Hasbro Interactive, Inc. (1996–2001) Infogrames Interactive, Inc. (2001–2003)
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	1995; 30 years ago (1995)
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Parent	Hasbro (1995–2001) Atari SA (2001–present)

Hasbro Interactive was formed late in 1995 to allow Hasbro to enter thevideo game market. Several Hasbro properties, such asMonopoly andScrabble, had already been made into successful video games by licensees such asVirgin Interactive. With Hasbro's game experience, video games seemed like a natural extension of the company and a good opportunity for revenue growth. Hasbro Interactive's objective was to develop and publish games based on Hasbro properties.

In January 1997, the company announced they would publish games for thePlayStation.^[3]

In 1997, revenues increased 145% going from US$35 million to $86 million.^[4] Hasbro Interactive was growing so fast that there was talk of reaching $1 billion in revenues by 2002.^[4] They began to engage in some other video game licensing, such as licensingFrogger fromKonami. They sought to use Hasbroboard game brands andWizards of the Coast properties as leverage to increase revenues.

Hasbro Interactive embarked on both internal and external development, and acquired some smaller video game developers and publishers along the way. On February 23, 1998,JTS sold theAtari brand name and intellectual properties ofAtari Corporation to HIAC XI, Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary created in Delaware for the purpose of the purchase.^[5] Hasbro Interactive then renamed HIAC XI, Corp. as Atari Interactive, Inc. in May 1998 and would use the Atari brand name to publishretro-themedremake titles.^[6] On the 21st of that month, Hasbro announced that aremake ofCentipede would be released for the PC andPlayStation.^[7] Throughout 1999 and 2000, games likeThe Next Tetris,Missile Command,Pong: The Next Level,Q*Bert,Glover,Nerf Arena Blast andBreakout would be released under the Atari branding.

On August 4, 1998, the company acquired the rights for 300 games when they purchasedAvalon Hill for $6 million,^[8] and followed this up on August 14 by purchasingMicroProse for $70 million.^[9] With those acquisitions Hasbro Interactive revenues increased 127% in 1998 to $196 million and profits of $23 million.^[4] In July 1999, the company purchased UK-based educational software publisherEuropress.^[10]

In 1998, Hasbro signed an agreement withMajesco Sales, whereas Majesco would publish/distribute games under a licensing agreement for various Nintendo consoles, notably theGame Boy Color.^[11] Majesco and Hasbro also worked on theSega Dreamcast adaptation ofQ*bert.^[12]

In April 1999, the company secured a licensing deal withNamco to develop and publish titles based on over 11 Namco franchises.^[13]

Hasbro Interactive became the number 3 video game publisher within three years of its founding. But in 1999, Hasbro Interactive lost $74 million on revenues of $237 million a growth of just 20% over the previous year.^[4] Late in 1999 with several game projects underway and dozens of newemployees, many of whom moved just to work for the company, Hasbro Interactive shut down several studios in a cost-cutting move. The studios affected included the former MicroProse offices located inAlameda, California, andChapel Hill, North Carolina. A game development company,Vicious Cycle Software, was started by employees laid off in theNorth Carolina Hasbro Interactive studio closing. In 4 years, Hasbro Interactive's revenue increased 577%.

By the middle of 2000, thedot-com bubble had burst, Hasbro share price had lost 70% of its value in just over a year and Hasbro would post a net loss for the first time in two decades.^[4]

Faced with these difficulties, on December 6, 2000, Hasbro announced they would completely sell off their Hasbro Interactive division to French software companyInfogrames.^[14] The sale included nearly all of their video game related rights and properties, the Atari brand and Hasbro's Games.com division, developer MicroProse and all of its software titles up to that point except for the Avalon Hill property. Hasbro Interactive's sale price was $100 million, $95 million as 4.5 million common shares of Infogrames and $5 million in cash.^[15][16] Under the terms of the sale agreement, Infogrames gained the rights to develop games based on Hasbro properties for a period of 15 years plus an option for an additional 5 years based on performance.^[16] The deal was completed on January 29, 2001. Majesco had ended its relationship with Hasbro once Infogrames took over the gaming company.^[17]

Following the purchase, Infogrames renamed Hasbro Interactive, Inc. as Infogrames Interactive, Inc., and rebranded many of its subsidiaries under the Infogrames brand. Distribution of the company's products was taken over by theirNorth American andEuropean branches. Newer games based on franchises and licensed IP that had previously been released through Hasbro Interactive would feature the company's new name as the copyright holder.^[18][19] In October 2001, Infogrames Interactive, Inc. licensed out theAtari brand to Infogrames' North American and European operations, which would allow them to publish new games under the brand.^[20] In May 2003, following the success of this initial run of Atari branded products, Infogrames Entertainment SA announced that it would rebrand all its subsidiaries under the Atari banner. To prepare for this change, the existing Atari Interactive, Inc. subsidiary was merged with Infogrames Interactive, Inc. and gained the Atari Interactive, Inc. name, being a wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames Entertainment, SA (IESA).^[21][22] while the Infogrames, Inc. subsidiary licensed the Atari name and logo from Atari Interactive and changed its name toAtari, Inc.^[23] using it to develop, publish and distribute games for all majorvideo game consoles andpersonal computers under the Atari brand.Infogrames would still maintain ownership of the original Atari properties received through Hasbro which are kept in their Hasbro Interactive originated placeholder, Atari Interactive, Inc.^[22]

Following major money losses throughout Infogrames Entertainment SA, the company began to sell most of its operations to pay off its debt. On June 9, 2005, the company reevaluated its licensing agreement with Hasbro by selling back its fifteen-year video game licensing agreement for $65 million. Hasbro re-acquired the rights to produce video games based on theTransformers,My Little Pony,Tonka,Connect Four,Candy Land andPlayskool IPs, alongsideWizards of the Coast IPMagic: The Gathering; while securing Atari a seven-year year license for titles based on the Hasbro board game portfolio, consisting ofMonopoly,Scrabble,Game of Life,Battleship,Clue,Yahtzee,Simon,Risk andBoggle. Atari's exclusive video game license forDungeons & Dragons was extended for another ten years, allowing Atari to continue publishing titles based on the franchise.^[24][25]

With continued money problems, in July 2007 Atari announced they had sold back the remainder of their Hasbro agreement back to them for $19 million.^[26] The following month, Hasbro announced they had entered into a new multi-year casual publishing deal withElectronic Arts.^[27] However, Atari retained itsDungeons & Dragons license and also announced to publish avideo game based onJenga under the franchise owners Pokonobe Associates.^[28]

On January 21, 2013, Atari, Inc. and Atari Interactive, Inc. filed petitions for relief underChapter 11, Title 11, United States Code in theUnited States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.^[29] All three Ataris emerged from bankruptcy one year later.^[30]

Hasbro Interactive published and distributed its own titles in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. Outside these markets, distribution was handled by various third parties includingUbi Soft in France, Leader S.p.A. in Italy,CD Projekt in Poland and Brasoft in Brazil.

Under the Hasbro Interactive name, the company published over 160 games on several interactive media.^[40] Included among them are:

• Action Man: Operation Extreme –PlayStation
• Axis & Allies –Windows
• B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th – Windows
• Battleship: The Classic Naval Warfare Game – Windows
• Beast Wars: Transformers – PlayStation, Windows,Macintosh
• Boggle – Windows
• CatDog: Quest for the Golden Hydrant – Windows
• Centipede – Windows
• Civilization II: Test of Time – Windows
• Clue – Windows
• Daytona USA 2001 –Dreamcast
• Falcon 4.0 – Windows
• Frogger (1997) – Windows, PlayStation
• Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge – Windows, PlayStation, Dreamcast
• Galaga: Destination Earth – Windows, PlayStation,Game Boy Color
• Game of Life – Windows
• Glover –Nintendo 64, PlayStation
• Grand Prix 3 – Windows
• Gunship! – Windows
• H.E.D.Z. – Windows
• Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim – Windows
• MechWarrior 3 – Windows
• Jeopardy! – PlayStation, Windows
• Monopoly (1995) – Windows
• Monopoly (1997) – PlayStation
• Monopoly Star Wars – Windows
• Monopoly (1999) – Nintendo 64
• Monopoly (1999) – Windows
• NASCAR Heat — Windows, PlayStationGame Boy Color
• NASCAR Racers – Windows, Game Boy Color
• Nerf Arena Blast – Windows
• Nerf Jr. Foam Blaster: Attack of the Kleptons! – Windows
• Nicktoons Racing – Windows, PlayStation, Game Boy Color
• Nickelodeon Party Blast – Windows, Xbox, GameCube
• Pac-Man: Adventures in Time – Windows
• Pong: The Next Level – Windows, PlayStation
• Q*bert – Windows, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Game Boy Color
• Risk – Windows
• Risk II – Windows
• RollerCoaster Tycoon – Windows
• Rubik's Games – Windows
• Scrabble – Windows (MacScrabble — Macintosh)
• Sorry! – Windows
• Spirit of Speed 1937 – Windows
• Star Trek: Birth of the Federation – Windows
• Trivial Pursuit Millennium – Windows
• Wheel of Fortune – PlayStation, Windows
• Worms Armageddon – Windows, Dreamcast, PlayStation
• X-COM: Enforcer – Windows
• Yahtzee – Windows

• Official website
• Hasbro Interactive HistoryArchived July 19, 2020, at theWayback Machine atMobyGames
• Hasbro InteractiveArchived May 29, 2005, at theWayback Machine by William Achtmeyer fromTuck School of Business (PDF)