Atari Acquires Berzerk, Frenzy, And 10 More Classic Arcade Properties

Atari revealed it had acquired twelve classic arcade properties including Berzerk, its sequel Frenzy, and Berzerk. 

Atari has not revealed all twelve properties it acquired, which is strange. Atari only mentions Frenzy and Berzerk in its press release. Atari claims it acquired “dozen retro arcade machines” and it is likely that the 10 other properties it purchased are also from the same era as Berzerk or Frenzy. 

According to the press release, “Atari…announced today that it had acquired a dozen retro arcade titles including Berzerk and Frenzy”, Atari plans to increase digital and physical distribution, develop new games, and look into brand and merchandise collaborations.

Atari claims Berzerk, a multi-directional top-down shooter created by Alan McNeil in 1980 for arcades, is called “Top-down, Multidirectional Shooter Berzerk”. Perhaps its most notable feature is that it was the first arcade game to include speech synthesis. After its arcade release Berzerk was port to the Atari 2600/Atari 5200 consoles by the manufacturer. Frenzy is actually the sequel to Berzerk, which first appeared in 1982. 

Wade Rosen, Atari CEO writes that Berzerk was one of the foundational games so many first experienced playing on Atari’s console. “Berzerk is a great fit for our strategy to commercialize classic retro IP.

Who knows if we’ll learn what the other 10 retro arcade properties Atari has acquired are – only time will tell. Read on. Game Informer Review of Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. 

Have you played Berzerk or Frenzy? Comment below to let us know!