Atari Interactive: History and Key Facts

Atari Interactive, Inc. (formerly Infogrames Interactive, Inc. and Hasbro Interactive, Inc.) is an American video game licensing company, and a subsidiary of the Atari SA holding company. It is the owner of the Atari brand, which it licenses out to its parent company and its North American publishing division Atari, Inc.

The company was formed as Hasbro Interactive in 1995 by toy and board game maker Hasbro as a way to expand to the video game market. The video game publisher was headquartered in Beverly, Massachusetts and released games based on existing Hasbro-owned IP, such as Monopoly and Mr. Potato Head before branching off into publishing third-party properties such as Frogger. Following the buyouts of Atari Corporation's assets including the Atari brand, MicroProse, Avalon Hill and Europress throughout 1998-1999, Hasbro Interactive became one of the largest video game publishers. It also began using the Atari brand to publish certain games.

Due to financial struggles and losses associated with the Dot-com bubble, Hasbro sold the entirety of Hasbro Interactive, excluding Avalon Hill, to French holding company Infogrames Entertainment SA in December 2000. Following the closure of the sale, the company was renamed as Infogrames Interactive and its purpose was reduced to managing franchise properties formerly published by Hasbro, with publishing in North America by Infogrames, Inc. It became Atari Interactive in May 2003 as part of a rebranding of Infogrames and its subsidiaries with the Atari brand.

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