New Partner
With the purchase of Mobygames by Atari it will be intersting to see what the future holds for the blockchain with the inclusion of the extensive database of games from this recent partnership. With the recent developments into the Metaverse it is no doubt Mobygames will become part of the push from Atari to have a presence in the decentraland with the use of the company’s crypto coin.
A new report has confirmed Atari has completed their MobyGames acquisition, a few months since the acquisition was announced in 2021.
“The MobyGames community has played a sustained and important role in the documentation, celebration and preservation of video games and supporting MobyGames allows us to give back to the community, and contribute to its growth and success,” Atari CEO Wade Rosen said in a press release.
He added, “It’s important to Atari that MobyGames retains every bit of its integrity, and we’re committed to supporting the site in ways that improve the experience for both contributors and users.”
Following the news that Atari has completed their MobyGames acquisition, Jeremiah Freyholtz, who’s been running MobyGames since 2013 as general manager and primary developer, will remain at his current position.
“In Atari, MobyGames has found a partner that will provide the investment and support we need to complete long-planned site improvements,” Freyholtz said. “I am confident this transition will allow MobyGames to remain an important community-driven project, and that Atari’s involvement best positions us for long-term stability and success.”
300,000 Unique Games
Moby Games was originally launched back in 1999 and supported by users ever since, the database has grown to over 300,000 unique games and even supportive information with key development staff. The Atari acquisition of MobyGames comes in at $1.5 million from former owner Antstream.
Freyholtz added a follow-up announcement over on MobyGames, further confirming the acquisiton to the site’s community.
“Atari understands how important our project is for the gaming community and they’re well aligned with our plans to improve the database and tools,” Freyholtz said. “In fact, Atari’s new CEO is a retro gamer/collector and long time fan of the site!”
It’s worth mentioning Atari’s CEO, Wade Rosen, is also the founder and president of Ziggurat Interactive, a boutique games publisher focused entirely on remastering and re-releasing retro games for modern audiences. They remastered and re-released BloodRayne 1 and 2 and are now set to re-release Enclave HD sometime this summer.
Full-time Development
As for the previously teased improvements coming to MobyGames, they’re apparently planning to complete the total overhaul of the site.
“We will now be investing in full-time development (we’ve been operating with part-time dev) to complete the new site that’s been in the works the past few years,” Freyholtz added. “Which will replace our 20+ year old codebase and tools. It’s currently in beta testing with our admins and approvers. We’ll be expanding the beta as development gets ramped up. Stay tuned!”
