The reporters, though already aware of the news, felt a jolt of shock hearing it directly from Malik Omar’s mouth. As for the tourists, they were filled with a sense of bewildered surprise.
To have their childhood memories not only reborn but to immediately acquire a telecommunications company – what did this mean? Did they intend to stop making games altogether?
Seeing the confused expressions on everyone's faces, Malik Omar continued his introduction, “Please don’t misunderstand. The very name of our company, Communications Entertainment Group, signifies that Atari-Stark’s future core businesses will be in the two sectors of communications and entertainment. This means that Atari will neither abandon our traditional gaming business nor our development towards more modern and future-oriented communication services.”
“In fact, many people may not know that when Atari was first founded, it was actually a company that operated in communication chips. It was only later, due to poor management, that we shifted to producing games. And today, with Atari’s rebirth, we will return to our original industry of communications. This can only be described as a great arrangement by God!” Malik Omar spoke eloquently.
“Next, regarding our company’s future development plans, in the area of mobile communications, Atari will first invest heavily to expand Stark’s existing communication business. Furthermore, we will actively invest in the 3G industry to provide all users with better future and networked communication services!”
“Then, concerning games, to be perfectly honest, we performed very poorly in the console industry. There are three later entrants who have done exceptionally well. We likely cannot compare with these three in the console business. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, Atari will abandon the console business until we believe we can perform better than our three competitors, at which point we will re-enter the console business!”
“So, in the future, Atari Group will focus its efforts on the PC platform and a brand-new gaming platform. We will invest heavily to develop more excellent, fun, and user-friendly games!” Malik Omar said with a smile.
“What? Atari is no longer making console games, but is focusing on the PC platform and a new game platform?” While the reporters were somewhat taken aback, the tourists present were filled with a sense of loss upon hearing this news from Malik Omar.
After all, their fondest memories of Atari were rooted in the console era. Now that Atari was reborn, it didn't intend to bring back those cherished memories, which made many players present feel a pang of sadness, even a sense of betrayal.
Immediately, someone in the audience could not help but ask angrily, “Mr. Malik, what you are doing is not bringing Atari back to life; it’s merely leveraging the Atari brand. Is Atari still Atari if it doesn’t develop consoles and console games? You are deceiving and exploiting our emotions. If that’s the case, I would never have come to participate in your event. You have ruthlessly abandoned my childhood!” It was clear that this person held Atari in very high regard, speaking with great emotional intensity.
“Sir, I understand your feelings very well!” Malik Omar said, offering comfort, and then continued, “But before Atari died, it consistently pursued the path of consoles. Yet, Atari ultimately died, didn’t it?”
“Nintendo initially manufactured playing cards, but does it still sell playing cards now?”
“Our substantial investment to bring Atari back to life is certainly not about fulfilling a childhood dream. The fundamental purpose is to make money. The capital behind us aims to profit from Atari, and in turn, everyone can reclaim a part of Atari’s memories!”
“Everyone knows the current state of the console industry. Atari re-entering the console industry would be a dead end. Therefore, we can only strive on two new platforms. However, I can assure everyone here that as long as Atari develops successfully on these new platforms and gains sufficient funding and products, we will eventually return to our former industry.”
“Of course, we will inevitably reclaim some of Atari’s former glory. However, we intend to abandon consoles for now and focus primarily on Atari’s classic games from the past!”
“We plan to remake and remaster these classic games, and then port them to the new platforms for everyone to enjoy. This is the best effort we can make to relive those beautiful memories of the past.”
“However, due to past mismanagement, Atari held copyrights to over a thousand games. More than 900 of these games were sold to other companies. We currently hold copyrights to over 100 Atari games. Therefore, our main tasks moving forward will be to release remastered versions of these remaining 100-plus Atari games, and to repurchase the game copyrights we previously sold.”
“In fact, this work is already in progress, and 362 games have already returned to the Atari family. Discussions are ongoing for over 400 more games. We plan to repurchase all the games within three months, even if we spend more than three times the amount we originally sold them for.”
“We plan to invest $20 million to repurchase these sold game copyrights. Our ultimate goal is to bring back all the classic games that once belonged to Atari, to bring these unfortunate wanderers home!” Malik Omar’s statement immediately made the audience feel much better, and their expressions indeed improved considerably.
In reality, people's core sentiment towards Atari lay in its games. No one truly wished for Atari’s outdated console hardware to return.
However, a hint of sarcasm appeared on the faces of the reporters. They felt that Atari’s decision was utterly foolish. Who would actually be interested in playing Atari’s old games again?
It’s important to remember that Atari’s peak period was from 1975 to 1982. Video games at this time were entirely in the pixel art era, meaning simple games akin to Tetris. The highest level of game technology back then was exemplified by Pac-Man and Tank Battalion.
While these might have been quite engaging game experiences at the time, in today’s era where game characters have fully transitioned to 3D, would anyone still be willing to play such games?
Especially when these games appeared on the PC platform, it seemed even more ludicrous.
Thus, a reporter could not help but raise his hand and directly ask, “Mr. Malik, do you plan to directly port all the original games to the PC platform, or will they be modernized and remastered before being ported? If it’s the former, do you believe such games still have a market now?”
“That’s a rather shrewd question!” Malik Omar exclaimed with a hearty laugh upon hearing it. “I can tell you now that we will pursue both paths: remastering and direct porting!”
“Firstly, on the PC platform, we have acquired Epic Games Studio and obtained their outstanding game engine: Unreal Engine 2. We will utilize this engine to comprehensively upgrade and transform those old, classic games. Everyone will be able to experience the ancient memories of 30 years ago in the new games, while also enjoying a brand-new gaming experience brought by the latest technology!”
“Concurrently, we also plan to open-source the Unreal Engine series and make it freely available to all game companies. However, that is a separate matter. Epic Games Studio will operate independently, and they will hold their own press conferences to announce these affairs to the public. I shall not preempt them here!”
“This is the situation regarding game remasters. In addition to this, on the new platform, we will directly revive all of Atari’s classic games, meaning without any modifications. They will be presented in their original form! Everyone can experience the most authentic gameplay.” Malik Omar explained.
This explanation filled the players present with anticipation. Firstly, regarding the five remastered games, it was undeniable that only Atari’s classic games that had sold over a million units would receive such treatment.
Therefore, everyone present was filled with curiosity and suspense about which five games would receive modernized remakes and enter the 3D era.
Of course, some individuals with a deeper understanding of the game industry were in a state of shock. They had received another astounding piece of news: Atari had quietly acquired Epic.
This company was responsible for the renowned Unreal game, and during its development, they specifically designed software for creating games called the Unreal Engine, which was currently the world’s best game engine.
Because of this game engine, Epic had previously been subject to acquisition offers of $100 million, all of which failed.
Yet, Atari had now purchased it. This meant Atari had spent at least $100 million to acquire Epic, didn’t it? It appeared that the capital behind Atari was truly formidable, giving Atari a complete overhaul. Was Atari truly set for a powerful resurgence?
Of course, while some focused on the Unreal Engine, others were more concerned with different matters.
“Excuse me, sir, what is this new platform you mentioned? Is it a new game software platform, or a completely new gaming device?” a reporter asked next.
“The new platform?” Upon hearing this question, everyone became curious. Indeed, what was this new platform that Malik Omar had repeatedly referred to?
They had a feeling that this platform seemed to be the most crucial factor in Atari’s rebirth at this time.
“It’s very simple, it’s this!” Malik Omar reached into his pocket and pulled out a Tianxing 5 mobile phone, presenting it to all the reporters.
“Within three months, Atari will officially launch the 00 Mobile Game Store in conjunction with the 00 Game Platform. In the future, all of Atari’s past games will be directly downloadable and playable from the 00 Game Store!”
“Oh, and to show our appreciation for everyone’s continued support of Atari, even though we spent $20 million to buy back all these past games, we have decided to make all these games available for free. You can purchase and download all Atari classic games from the 00 Mobile Game Store without spending a single cent!” Malik Omar said with a smile.