[Update: David Lowey has provided some clarification on Atari’s reasoning behind acquiring these properties:

“We do think Awesomenauts and Swords & Soldiers are both strong games, and they were on Wade’s radar. When we found out that they were available it made the decision to acquire them easier.

Both games show off Ronimo’s sense of humor, their ability to create compelling characters and stories, and their game design. They were received very positively when they were released, and they continue to support an active player base and community of fans. So, we think they are a good addition to Atari’s portfolio, and we will explore ways to continue to support and commercialize the existing games and the underlying IP.

We have only announced the acquisition of the games, trademarks, and the underlying intellectual property. As of now, we have nothing to share regarding ongoing collaboration with the team members at the studio.”

Fair enough! Our original story follows.]

Atari has introduced that they’ve acquired just a few high-ish profile properties from Ronimo Video games. Notably, these titles embody Awesomenauts and Swords & Troopers.

The press launch appears like these two video games have been the cream of the crop, however the one different property I actually know Romino owns is BlightBound. Awesomenauts is a 2012 MOBA, and might be the closest I’ve come to having fun with a MOBA. I didn’t, however I nearly did. As is frequent for MOBAs, it had a tonne of DLC cosmetics. It’s nonetheless going as a free-to-play title to some extent, however because it’s over a decade previous, the participant base has cooled, and it’s not as common because it as soon as was.

Swords & Troopers was first introduced as a WiiWare recreation again in 2009, and stood out as a result of there was by no means a complete lot on WiiWare. It was ultimately rescued and ported to different platforms. In 2015, it acquired a sequel, which was Swords & Troopers II: Shawarmageddon. I by no means performed both title, however now I’ve acquired a mighty longing for shawarma.

What puzzles me is why Atari wished these properties. The present model of Atari goes by way of a interval of acquisitions to attempt to focus its technique. A part of the technique is doing smaller finances titles, so these match that invoice, nevertheless it’s nonetheless fascinating that they purchased these properties specifically as a substitute of, say, Romino itself. Did Ronimo want the cash, and Atari noticed the chance? Did key employees transfer to Atari and need to proceed engaged on their established sequence? Is CEO Wade Rosen a fan of those video games?

I’ve reached out to my individual on the within to see if they will deobfuscate issues and can replace this text in the event that they get again to me with some fascinating data.