Atari's US operations file for bankrupcy: Effect on Rollercoaster Tycoon?

[Rudy]

If you've been tracking the news lately, Atari have filed for bankrupcy

Now, given that they currently own the Rollercoaster Tycoon license (probably swallowed up from Midway in the early 00s) what effect might this have on the possibilities of Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 pinball, given that RT2 has been a much talked about table amongst this subsection.

Does this potentially make it easier now that there might be a firesale on assets?
Or does this make it much more complicated, for TPA will not be able to license Rollercoaster Tycoon until there is a new, definite owner of the Rollercoaster Tycoon license?

 

[Sean]

There is not going to be a fire sale because the company isn't tanking. The only reason they're doing this is to get released from the parent company which is headquartered in France and is in trouble and hanging up the publication of new software. It's purely a strategic move; nothing more.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

For that matter, I dream of seeing some of the old Atari widebody pinballs on TPA (mostly because I like the way they looked), but given the probable IP difficulty and the low demand, it's vanishingly unlikely.

 

[Jutter]

If you've been tracking the news lately, Atari have filed for bankrupcy

Now, given that they currently own the Rollercoaster Tycoon license (probably swallowed up from Midway in the early 00s)

This was never a Midway game. To my recollection Rollercoaster Tycoon started out as a InfoGrames title, and InfoGrams purchased/became ATARI later. ATARI hasn't really been ATARI ever since it got sold off to Warner in the late seventies, and the name has switched owners ever since. Either way this smells like complications.

 

[Sean]

Well, they did a brilliant Greatest Hits collection for DS and iOS so the American branch (which is likely the only part of the company to remain a going concern after this year) seems willing to leverage IP. I don't see why they wouldn't be willing to license IP, but the question is whether or not this is the entity you'd deal with. I'm pretty sure the Atari pinball machines (which I've never actually played, but look at little, well, lacklustre) came out after the Warner buyout in which case the IP lies with the current Warner Software division which owns all the old Atari Games IP (after the home/arcade split).

The company has varied and interesting history. It's nice to see it returning to its roots in a way with these simple iOS/mobile games. I didn't understand Infogrames use of the branding at all.