Atari buys – Atari has agreed to acquire Hipster Whale, the developer behind Crossy Road and Pac-Man 256, in a deal worth an initial $29.3 million plus up to $10 million based on performance. Co-founder Matt Hall will take on a leadership role overseeing Atari’s mobile gam
Atari’s latest move isn’t about adding another title to its catalogue—it’s about buying the team behind some of its most recognizable mobile hits. The company has agreed to acquire Hipster Whale, the developer of the Crossy Road series and Pac-Man 256, in a deal that could reach $39.3 million.
The price is split into two parts: Atari will pay an initial $29.3 million in cash and stock. with an additional $10 million available depending on how Hipster Whale performs over the next few years. For the studio’s leadership, the change is immediate and personal. Matt Hall. a co-founder of Hipster Whale. will step into a leadership position at Atari and help oversee development of mobile games.
Atari frames the purchase as a continuation of a broader push into mobile. In a press release attached as a PDF. the company says it has expanded its mobile games business in part due to its work on projects for Netflix. Amazon. and the AirConsole gaming platform used in car infotainment systems. Atari points to those projects as geared toward “a new generation of services” that let people play across an expanding range of screens—phones. tablets. handheld consoles. PCs. televisions. and in-car displays.
That cross-screen push matters to Hipster Whale’s portfolio. Atari says the Crossy Road series will be used to expand the mobile games lineup it already has, including RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic and RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch.
The acquisition also slots into Atari’s recent history of buying studios. Following its takeover of the Thunderful Group. Atari also owns Early Morning Studio. which is behind the Vampire’s Fall series. Earlier this year. Atari also picked up the rights to the first five games in the Wizardry series and pledged to bring them back through “remasters. collections and new releases.” On the Wizardry website. a 45th anniversary page carries a countdown that ends early on Wednesday. June 3.
Taken together. Atari’s shopping list reads like a strategy built for reach rather than just releases: more mobile studios. more familiar franchises. and more ways to play from phone to television to cars. The company is betting that bringing Hipster Whale into its orbit will strengthen its ability to ship across those formats—and that Matt Hall’s presence in Atari’s leadership will help that transition move faster than it otherwise might.
Atari Hipster Whale Crossy Road Pac-Man 256 mobile games Matt Hall acquisition Netflix Amazon AirConsole RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch Early Morning Studio Vampire's Fall Thunderful Group Wizardry June 3