In the same way that Nightdive triumphed with its remake of System Shock, Digital Eclipse has just shined with The Making of Karateka which is generally agreed to serve as a new benchmark in terms of interactive documentary. Founded in 1992, Digital Eclipse has developed an in-house technology called Eclipse Engine to restore and modernize many old games, which again allows us to draw a parallel with Nightdive’s KEX Engine. Atari is not an unknown subject for Digital Eclipse, which stood out last year with its interactive documentary Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration.
Before that, the studio based in Emeryville, California had notably worked on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection for Konami, Disney Classic Games Collection, Blizzard Arcade Collection, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, Mega Man Legacy Collection or still on the remake of MediEvil released on PS4 in 2019. A panel of partners which says everything about the reference status acquired by Digital Eclipse in the field of preservation of retro games.
“ The acquisition of Digital Eclipse will allow Atari to expand its internal development capabilities and utilize Digital Eclipse’s experience and proprietary technology. By joining Atari, Digital Eclipse will expand its business and capabilities by increasing its development capacity and access to world-class intellectual property, while leveraging Atari’s management expertise. By adding Digital Eclipse, as well as Nightdive Studios in May 2023, Atari will be able to further support its retro-focused growth strategy », Explains the press release.
Studios not limited to the Atari catalog
Atari will spend a minimum of $6.5 million upon closing of the acquisition, including $4 million in cash and $2.5 million in newly issued Atari common stock. Atari also agrees to pay an earnout of up to $13.5 million based on the future performance of Digital Eclipse over the next ten years. For comparison, Nightdive’s purchase price was $9.5 million with an earnout of up to $10 million depending on the studio’s future performance. That’s a total value of around $20 million for each studio.