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one of the great historical brands in
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the video game industry is Atari the
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company was right there at the outset
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and is still going strong more than 50
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years later I had a chance to speak with
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Wade Rosen who is the CEO of Atari and
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we talked about a variety of topics
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including the areas that he's focused on
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right now so that Atari can be
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successful the three main ones are games
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hardware and
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Licensing both through organic and
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inorganic growth what about the hardware
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side of it that obviously that's a
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that's an important component uh for any
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company especially in this
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industry yeah well the hardware for us
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uh is a little bit different than most
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because um for example the 2600 plus
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which we just announced uh about a month
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ago is a uh a new 2600 that plays both
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2600 and 7,800 games uh it's digital
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output HDMI compatible nothing really
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existed like that that and it plays the
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original cartridges so that would be an
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example of a hardware project that we're
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pursuing today that I think is is an
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interesting component is is bringing in
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some of the Legacy games that people of
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my age know and bringing them forward to
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what you want to have today what's that
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process
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like well it depends it depends on if
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we're remastering the games uh like like
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we do in our recharge series if we're
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reimagining them like we do in our
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upcoming up lunar lander Beyond or if
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we're displaying them in historical
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context like in Atari 50 um but in the
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case of the 2600 plus it's really just
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making them accessible I think a lot of
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people had Atari carts sitting in their
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in their attic or in a closet somewhere
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and it was a pretty common refrain that
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people would say oh I'd love to be able
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to play those but it was nearly
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impossible to get an old console working
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so in this case it's just allowing
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people to play what they already have do
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you see an element of of parents passing
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this Legacy down to their to their kids
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as you move forward here yeah I hope so
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I mean that's certainly a big part of
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the intent I always joke that you know
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Nintendo's the they're the Masters
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because I pay them for the privilege to
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uh teach my daughter about Mario and
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Zelda and so you know her like she loves
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Mario because I love Mario and it would
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be amazing if something like that also
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were to happen with parents and I and I
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think there certainly is some of that
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and we're trying to increase the
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opportunities for people to do that so
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obviously it's not just only a console
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World obviously with smartphones and
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other devices out there how much do you
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focus on that side of the industry
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either now or in the
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future yeah I think mobile for a long
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time um was really dominated by freeo
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play it was hard to find much um there
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wasn't a lot on the premium side there
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and we primarily make premium games we
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do have one uh very successful mobile
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game called called Roller Coaster Tycoon
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touch that we continue and is always uh
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new content coming out for but I I think
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that's changed a little bit too thanks
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to players like apple Netflix
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Crunchyroll they're providing content
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for mobile phones but it's introduced
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more in a premium fashion so I would say
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up until recently we've been pretty
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limited but uh um I'm really intrigued
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by where Mobile's heading I think it's
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it's having a rebirth one of the things
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those platforms one of the things we've
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talked a lot about uh on our Show
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recently is about brand and the strength
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of Brands and certainly for people in
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this industry Atari is such a a brand
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that they remember how much do you focus
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on the brand and the strength of it as
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as a component of continuing to build
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the company out uh here in 2023 and
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Beyond uh as much as we possibly can I
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think I think part of what is so
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intriguing about Atari and one of the
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reasons I think a lot of us are here is
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the brand it's the name there's really
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um you know it's it's in one of the the
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logos is one of the top 10 recognizable
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logos in the world uh the brand is very
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resonant it feels at home in both the
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past in a retro sense but also on
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skyscrapers and Blade Runner and so yeah
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I think the brand is incredibly Timeless
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and we try to incorporate it in
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everything that we do as long as it
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doesn't become obnoxious what does that
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mean for you as the CEO of the company
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is there an element that impacts you
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know how you think about where the
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company is going and your thought
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process of of leading this
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company um yeah I think I think to some
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degree I think the history it's
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impossible to fully ignore the history
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of the company I mean it's so it's such
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a
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uh like a historic and and you know I
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think the biggest thing for us is is
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that it's not you know there was the
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rise and fall with Atari and so for
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everybody here you know it's it's fun
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because it's an Underdog Story we get to
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try and rebuild something back that has
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never been able to really emerge back um
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in a in a meaningful way and and I've
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also never had the opportunity to be a
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part of a company where everyone's
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rooting for you I mean it really is
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especially in like pop culture uh people
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just want to see Atari they want to see
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it succeed and I and it's really fun to
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read the comments section after you
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introduce a new product and just realize
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like oh man this is people have a very
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emotional tangible connection with this
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and and we get to be a part of it it
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feels really cool and so how then do you
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approach trying to build that connection
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obviously in this world of of of digital
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and social media there's certainly a lot
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of opportunities out there to try and
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continue to build that uh that
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connection I think I think we try and do
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it all you know I mean certainly digital
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and press releases but it even you know
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some of our larger releases get go
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through more traditional channels um
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radio obviously and uh and then you know
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trade shows uh big exhibits we we just
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recently um did packs and we're gonna we
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were at Gamescom and we're going to be
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going to pretty much all the major trade
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shows throughout the year and I think
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that's where we get to interact the most
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in the most personal way with fans yeah
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I would imagine that a lot of the your
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people that go to those shows uh end up
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having stories of connections with
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people coming up and say I remember when
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Atari you know you know those stories
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toally they get passed on from
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generation to
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generation yeah in fact I think my
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favorite example is at the last one
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there was a woman who uh took one of the
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2600 cards and gave it to her daughter
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was like this is what Mom wants for
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Christmas and yes that's that's exactly
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that's exactly what we're going for
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there so where do you see then the path
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for Atari moving forward in the next few
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years what where do you have to
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focus and I guess to what level are are
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you looking to build this company out as
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you go
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forward yeah I think I mean the first
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thing to understand is the macro video
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game environment is challenged right now
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um much like technology you know over
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overgrowth during coid there's been a
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pullback after Co so what works is when
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you can find something that you can do
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better than anyone else if you can and I
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think that's what we always challenge
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ourselves like what should Atari what
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can Atari do that's better than anyone
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else the 2600 plus is obviously an
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example of that um our recent uh
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acquisition of night dive Studios which
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focuses on remasters of classic games is
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another example of that and I think
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we're just going to continue to focus on
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where we can be the most meaningful
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company and at this point in time that's
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an Innovative retro Hardware software
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licensing anything in that space that's
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really where we're going to put our our
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time and energy will it grow beyond that
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will it be more than that someday I'd
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love to say it would but you know for
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now it's it's enough to just be great at
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what you at this like little niche that
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we play in is it interesting to use the
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word retro when you're talking about the
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video game industry because I mean there
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is such a great history of all different
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companies and game
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but so much is you know in the here and
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now as well yeah yeah it is it is
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interesting um I think with Atari you
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can't avoid it I think
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Atari I think Atari is uh it will always
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have one foot in the past and one foot
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in the future and so it just feels very
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natural for us but it's it's more retro
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isn't just releasing old games I think
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that's where we get into into trouble
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like the the best example would be a
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guari 5050 which was a title we put out
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last year it it was designed to give
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context to all these games so it's
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actually a historical document it's as
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much of a it's as much of a documentary
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as it is a game you see video footage
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the developers talk about the titles and
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then you can dive in and play asteroids
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so it it it's not just playing a classic
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game you're also understanding
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everything that went into it and getting
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to see it I think that's really where
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that's going I think people want to want
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context around these old titles one of
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the other areas I know that in just kind
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of watching this from the outside uh is
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that you get a lot of companies within
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this industry that want to connect with
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another Big Brand uh you know something
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that's very successful in the
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entertainment sector in fact I think if
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I remember correctly the old Atari did
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that back in the day uh does that factor
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into your thinking not maybe not now but
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down the road as
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well oh absolutely I mean for example we
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did a collaboration with Lego this year
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for the uh 2600 uh set which was amazing
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that's like a a really uh awesome thing
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to do we've done collaborations with
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luxury Brands but we're constantly
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working on that and that's a big part of
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the the licensing part of the business
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and a lot more to come on that front for
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sure what are you most excited about
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right now for for what this company is
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doing I think I mean what what most
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excites me is the team that we have I
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think they're
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amazing um it's just this this really
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talented passionate group of people who
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care deeply and there's so much room to
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run that uh yeah I'm I think that's what
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excites me the most is is the team that
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I get to work with every day I know
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that's a little cliche but but it's the
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truth no that's that that's absolutely
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the case and so does also you factor in
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things like AR VR and AI as you're
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moving down the road as well
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oh absolutely you know we we released a
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VR game this year called pixel ripped
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which is uh you get to not only like go
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in these large Virtual Worlds but you're
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a developer at Atari and pixel ripped
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and pixel RI
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1979 and um uh I think I think VR it's
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one of those things that will continue
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to evolve and it'll get better and
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better and I think people will I think
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it'll become a larger part of gaming as
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as the technology becomes simpler and
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simpler this is uh obviously a an
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amazing time in terms of your industry I
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think when you think about uh just the
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the connection that we have in the
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digital space and and big tech and and
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the growth of of of where we were even
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maybe just a decade ago uh with the uh
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video game industry how much bigger do
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you think this industry can get as we
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move
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forward I mean you you know if you were
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to look at a if you were to look at a
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chart of where the industry is today
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versus where it was in
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2019 it's if you pull out Co it's on the
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exact trend line that was predicted
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where we were in 2019 so it has grown
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pretty significantly since 2019 I think
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where it gets into trouble is you know
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Co kind of reset the bar a little bit um
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but I think in terms of the size of the
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industry I think it'll continue to have
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you know pretty strong compounding
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growth year after year but I think the
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real change is like when games start to
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merge into social when they start to
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merge into other things you know that
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the cliche is the Ready Player One
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analogy but it'll probably come to some
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degree or another and I think that's
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that's when it makes the next big leap
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but up until then I think it can it can
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continue to grow pretty steadily year
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after year but I I think the idea of it
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growing 15% a year or something like
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that just probably isn't that feasible
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anymore given the maturity of the
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industry so what do you think will be
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kind of the lasting memory of the of the
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time of Co when you think about the the
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video game industry and obviously
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everybody being in and playing more
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video games how will that be looked back
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on do you think I I think we'll look
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back holistically on CO as a as a time
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of overinvestment um I think it was the
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end of cheap money and at the same time
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of rise in demand on a lot of goods and
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and even some services but mostly goods
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and and video games being one of those
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so you put those two together it kind of
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creates a a
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uh a a very small window of explosive
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growth in certain sectors that is not
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sustainable so I think we'll look back
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at at Co and kind of the the learnings
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from it will be obvious even though
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nobody was saying it during or not many
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people were saying it during coid you
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know like and we already see that with
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technology with a lot of media companies
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and with video games and and the same
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thing is hitting is hitting all of them
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it sounds like the reception from the
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consumer base in general has been very
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positive uh for you and for Atari uh as
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you're working moving forward here oh
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yeah I mean that that is the best part
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of the job is that you know the fans
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want Atari to succeed and and just
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general pop culture wants it to succeed
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so when you're there there's never a
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question if you should be there or not
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there it's more of like where have you
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been and why why weren't you here
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sooner that that's you know what that's
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and again as somebody who's in my
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mid-50s I could say you know what it is
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interesting to see how we have seen that
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and I saw the growth of some of these
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companies you know 30 40 years ago and
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it felt like maybe there was a little
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bit of a dip at some point going back to
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maybe the time of the financial
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recession through
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2019 but now it seems like it's it's
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full speed ahead right now with this
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industry with video games specifically
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yeah
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exactly well I'm glad it comes off that
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way it certainly isn't the case in the
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industry in fact it the industry is kind
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of in Retreat a little bit just in terms
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of of growth because again many
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companies doubled or tripled head count
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during coid so everything is still up
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significantly over 2019 but from where
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we were in 2021 or 2022 um most
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companies have pulled back
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uh layoffs and sometimes Studio closures
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sometimes companies shutting down um I
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actually think the industry is going
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through a little bit of a right sizing
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uh just holistically at the moment Wade
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pleasure to meet you uh it sounds like
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you guys are doing fantastic things as
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Atari builds the brand back up again
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thank you sir thank you so much for
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having me you got it Wade Rosen who is
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the CEO of
00:15:57
Atari
