Atari SA has taken ownership of Implicit Conversions, which means more classic games may receive a more modern form through emulation.
Atari has acquired the emulation studio Implicit Conversions, a team that specializes in bringing games from the 32-bit era to modern platforms. Implicit Conversions developed the Syrup Engine, an advanced emulation engine that carries 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit games over to current systems. The engine currently supports seven classic platforms, the most notable of which is the PlayStation, while PlayStation 2 support is reportedly on the way soon. As a result, Implicit Conversions has already worked with Atari subsidiary Digital Eclipse on Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection, where it handled the three PS1 games included in the package, as well as on Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition.
Atari acquired Digital Eclipse in 2023 in a deal worth up to $20 million. That studio mainly focuses on emulating games from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras and has become known for the interactive museum-style timelines featured in many recent retro releases. Before that, Atari had already acquired Nightdive Studios, which specializes instead in remastering polygonal games and making them playable again on modern hardware with improved resolution and frame rates. By acquiring Implicit Conversions, Atari is presumably hoping the studio can cover the 32-bit gap, especially PS1 titles, sitting between Digital Eclipse’s 8-bit and 16-bit expertise and Nightdive’s polygonal remasters.
“Implicit Conversions’ proprietary Syrup Engine gives us the ability to work with 32-bit era games as well, complementing our existing expertise with games from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Alongside the Bakesale Engine from Digital Eclipse and the Kex Engine from Nightdive, we now have an enviable set of proprietary tools and even more engineering talent, allowing us to expand our capabilities further across both our own catalog and the back catalogs of our IP partners,” Atari CEO Wade Rosen said.
“Over the last year, we have worked with Atari through Digital Eclipse on Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection, Rayman, and additional titles that we will announce later this year. As we told them, it felt like finding long-lost cousins. We share the same passion for classic games – we respect the original versions, enrich them with historical content and context, and preserve them for the future. One of the main reasons Atari became interested in our company was our PlayStation expertise and our continued work around the PS1 emulator Waffle. While we will probably broaden our repertoire and help with projects tied to Atari’s wider long-term vision, our primary goal remains continuing development of Pancake for PS1, developing Waffle for PS2, and then looking ahead with Benedict for PS3,” wrote Bill Litshauer, Implicit Conversions’ head of operations, on the team’s website.
Preserving old games in this way will always be worth appreciating.
Source: VGC, Implicit Conversions, GamesBeat
