Atari Files For Chapter 11

Atari Inc. has announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 protection as the company attempts to move away from its parent company, France’s Atari S.A. As part of the filing, Atari revealed that it is considering the option of selling off assets including the iconic logo and a variety of classic franchises.

The creator of classic video game franchises such as Pong and Asteroids will begin a sale of its assets in the next few months, in an attempt to operate as an independent company. Instead of focusing on the home console market, where Atari rose in popularity with its ‘80s-era hardware, the publisher will turn to the digital and mobile space. Several titles based on classic titles including Asteroids and Breakout have launched on the App Store and performed well. The filing says that Atari plans to make such a move within the next 90-120 days.

Last summer, Atari celebrated its 40th anniversary. The last console release for Atari was the 2009 video game based on the Ghostbusters series of films.