However, this is not as simple as Atari SA buying the entire IP outright, because the story is more complicated than that.
The acquired titles include Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (1981), Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds (1982), Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn (1983), Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna (1987), and Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom (1988), along with numerous other Wizardry-related video games, contractual rights, and other related intellectual property rights. Drecom, the Japanese company that acquired the Wizardry intellectual property rights in 2020, clarified that it still owns the trademark worldwide. It also retains ownership of Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge, Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant, and Wizardry 8, which are based on a different fictional universe.
Atari plans to bring back the Original Wizardry / The Llylgamyn Saga games, which helped lay the foundations of the Japanese RPG genre, through expanded digital and physical distribution, as well as remasters, collections, and new editions. Beyond game publishing, the long-term plan also includes merchandising, card and board games, books and comics, as well as television and film projects, all with the goal of building an entertainment franchise based on the original games.
“When Andrew Greenberg and I created Wizardry back in the 1980s, the game industry was still in its infancy, and the original games were among the first to bring the role-playing experience to PCs and consoles. As Atari continues re-releasing the games on new platforms and to new audiences, I will definitely be watching the reactions of players who decide to take on a true old-school challenge”, Robert Woodhead, co-creator of the Wizardry series, wrote in the press release. “Wizardry is an incredibly influential RPG franchise, yet many of the games have been unavailable for more than two decades. We are excited to have this rare opportunity to republish, remaster, and bring console ports and physical releases of these early games to market”, added Atari CEO and chairman Wade Rosen.
Digital Eclipse, an Atari-owned studio, already released a remake of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord in 2024. Despite Atari announcing that it had acquired the intellectual property rights underlying the first five Wizardry games, Drecom says Atari did not acquire the Wizardry intellectual property itself. In other words, this is not a full IP acquisition, but a much more layered legal arrangement.
Source: Gematsu, Business Wire
