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

Atari has revealed that it has acquired 12 classic arcade properties, including Berzerk and its sequel, Frenzy. 

Strangely, though, Atari did not reveal all 12 properties that it has acquired. In the press release announcing the news, the company only lists Berzerk and Frenzy. Atari simply says it has acquired a “dozen retro arcade games” so it’s likely the other 10 properties are from the same era of arcade games as Berzerk and Frenzy. 

“Atari…announced today the acquisition of a dozen retro arcade games, including the ’80s classics Berzerk and Frenzy,” the press release reads. “Atari will seek to expand digital and physical distribution of the classic titles, create new games based on the IPs, and explore brand and merchandising collaborations.”

Atari says Berzerk is “a top-down, multidirectional shooter designed by Alan McNeil that was released for arcades in 1980.” It’s perhaps best known for being the first arcade video game with speech synthesis. Following its arcade release, Berzerk was ported to the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 by the console maker. Frenzy is actually a sequel to Berzerk first released in 1982. 

“Berzerk is one of those foundational games that so many people first encountered playing on an Atari console,” Atari CEO Wade Rosen writes in the press release. “Berzerk, and the other titles included in this acquisition, are a perfect fit for our strategy of commercializing classic retro IP.”

Who knows if we’ll learn what the other 10 retro arcade properties Atari has acquired are – only time will tell. In the meantime, read Game Informer’s review of Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. 

Have you played Berzerk or Frenzy? Let us know in the comments below!