Official Atari Games Podcast

If you're a fan of fast-paced boomer shooters, you should know CULTIC. Influenced by classics like Blood, but with faster and more visceral gameplay, AND it was developed by one guy in Kansas, Jason Smith. While Jason was gracious enough to join the podcast and tell us the story behind the game's development, he was even more gracious to allow Atari to bring his title to consoles. And so, we find...

Nightdive is synonymous with meticulous remaster work. Be it for their treatment of System Shock, the Turok trilogy, Blood, or countless others, the name means something. That all started with one guy: Stephen Kick. CEO of Nightdive, his story is an entertaining one that starts with a bit of hustle, but is backed up by passion and dedication to every product that's come out since the company's inc...

One of the most competitive sides of the games industry is music composition. There are so many talented musicians and not enough games for them all, so it says a lot about the select few who can make a full-time career out of it. Fat Bard is one of those examples, and being hot off the heels of composing the Bubsy 4D OST, there was no better time to have them on to discuss their journey and the w...

Bubsy 4D is finally here. Not only is it an important release for us at Atari, but it marks the SECOND important release for developer Fabraz in the span of about three months. This would be a feat for a large studio, so it's even more impressive that it was accomplished by a team of less than ten full-time developers. How did they do it? How did they get here? I wanted to dive deep into all of it...

You've heard a lot about Bubsy 4D since it was announced back at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026, but have you asked yourself, "how?" Or "why?" Or "who?" If you had any of these questions, then this episode is specifically for you! I've gathered some key folks involved in getting the word out, including Sam Robertell (Social Media and Influencer Manager), Shah-Rukh Faridi (Asset Manager), and Fab...

September 4, 2025 marked the launch of the beautiful pixel art metroidvania, Adventure of Samsara. On that same day, one other highly anticipated title came out that averted the gaze of many fans of the genre. Fast forward to now, and we've put the spotlight on Adventure of Samsara yet again with the massive 2.0 Update, including combat improvements, quality of life changes, a beastiary, and so mu...

Everyone knows about Half-Life; it revolutionized first-person shooters and dominated the gaming landscape upon release. One of the many victims of this unfortunate release timing, SiN, is finally making its rightful comeback. While it garnered respectable reviews from critics, it never quite reached the commercial success that it was arguably due. Fast forward nearly 30 years, and SiN is about to...

It's been a long time coming, but the release Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch is finally upon us! Deeply entrenched in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, the title sees its titular heroes brawl their way through classic and absurd locations alike, fighting a cavalcade of enemies that are as beautifully drawn and animated as they are dark and twisted. It's a love letter to Smith's world and c...

In 2021, Sad Cat Studios announced REPLACED during one of Microsoft's Xbox showcases. The reveal immediately put the title on players' list of most-anticipated titles thanks to its striking visuals and narrative premise in a unique dystopian world. Fast forward to today, when the game is less than one month away from release as part of the Atari family following the acquisition of Thunderful Publi...

Localization is rarely a consumer-facing process. While we're far removed from the days of "all your base are belong to us", it's a critical component of any international game release. How do you make sure things make sense in each language? What's the difference between translation and localization? What's up with German? All of these questions and more are covered with our guest, Claudia Ricciu...

Starting around mid-2025, VernNotice started streaming weekly on Atari's Twitch channel, playing new, old, and really old releases from Atari's library. Outside of that, he's a full-time streamer for his own channel. It's a world that's alien to me, so I've had my eye on this interview for a while to pick Vern's brain on all things streaming. We cover quite a few topics, including Vern's intro to...

During the mid-90s, a unique and unlikely mascot platformer emerged from Ubisoft: Rayman. 30 years and many entries and spin-offs later, the game that started it all is back via Digital Eclipse in a rather unique collection of titles. Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition gathers multiple versions of the original title across all platforms with the expected reverence that only Digital Eclipse can deliv...

[Recorded on March 26th, 2026] Way way WAY back in 2017, Digital Eclipse and Disney partnered to bring The Disney Afternoon Collection to Xbox One, PS4, and Steam, featuring classic retro Disney titles like Ducktales and TaleSpin among a handful of others. Fast-forward to now, and DE is back at the helm to bring the title to Switch and Switch 2 with some surprise additions. Noteable: Bonkers and S...

We're back after our holiday hiatus! Game previews will be coming soon and often, but to kick things off, here's a bit of a self-indulgent treat for you all. AtariAge officially joined the Atari family in 2023, but it has been a staple in the homebrew community for decades before that. Albert Yaruso, one of the cofounders, continues its operations today, but has a much longer history in the game i...

If you've been following the happenings of Atari for the last few years, you've likely taken note of some of our frequent collaborators. One of them, Graphite Lab, has been delivering killer new titles like Kombinera, Mr. Run and Jump, and Qomp 2, while also serving as the current steward of RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic. That's in addition to fostering a number of other projects with various partn...

NOTE: This was recorded on October 30th. Please follow Atari and Digital Eclipse for the latest news and updates about our games. Mortal Kombat! This series needs no introduction, but it does have a story to tell. No, not the one about its kombatants, but rather its origins and rise to prominence. Mortal Kombat changed the gaming industry forever, so it would be no small undertaking to both tell t...

Surprising you like a good ol' jump scare, the Atari and Apogee partnership rolls on with a shadow drop of Total Chaos on PC and consoles yesterday, November 20th. This one comes from the one-man shop, Sam Prebble/Trigger Happy Interactive, and is a follow-up to the commercial and critical success, Turbo Overkill. What you may not know is that Total Chaos came first, starting as a Doom 2 mod befor...

Back in 1997, Monolith released the classic FPS, Blood, on PC, introducing brutally violent content to critical acclaim and immediate cult status. 22 years later, Nightdive Studios worked their magic to bring a remaster of the game, Fresh Supply, to PC, reintroducing the title to a new generation. Fast forward to now, and they have announced one more go at the title: Blood: Refreshed Supply. What'...

We have a crazy slate of games coming out. Some announced, some to be announced, but there are plenty of games to talk about that haven't been covered in the podcast yet. Those will be coming soon, so please allow us to slow things down a bit and catch up with Atari VP of Games, Ethan Stearns. It's been a while since he's been on the podcast, and he was fortunately able to join me to look back on...

Back in April, Apogee and Emberheart Games released the killer boomer shooter, Wizordum, out of early access. Shortly thereafter, a partnership was formed with Atari and Infogrames to bring the title to consoles, which made its debut this week! Joining me this week are Primoz Vovk (Lead at Emberheart Games) and Jeron Moore (Executive Producer at Apogee) to discuss the title from its origin to rele...

Mascot platformers can be defined by their voice performers. Charles Martinet as Mario and Roger Craig Smith as Sonic, to name the two most prolific examples. From the first sound bites of Sean Chiplock as our wise-cracking feline hero, it was immediately clear that he was our Bubsy; The near-universally positive response since the announcement further punctuated that feeling. So to round out our...

As we covered in the last episode, Bubsy has had an interesting past, to say the least. Now, however, we're looking forward with the announcement of Bubsy 4D. Yes, we had the audacity to make a sequel to Bubsy 3D, and by "we," I mean everyone gathered on this podcast: Fabian Rastorfer (Co-founder and co-lead at Fabraz), Ben Miller (Co-founder and co-lead at Fabraz), and Sam Brown (Atari Release Ma...

Depending on your point of reference, Bubsy is either a figure to be revered or reprimanded for his stamp on platforming history. Fortunately, thanks to our friends at Limited Run Games, you can experience the history of this legendary bobcat through his classic adventures in the upcoming Bubsy In: The Purrfect Collection. LRG has leveraged their Carbon Engine to ensure each game gets it’s proper...

The party hasn't stopped since Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration was first released in 2022, as there are always more stories to tell. Enter the upcoming DLC, Namco Legendary Pack, where, true to its name, some of gaming's most legendary titles make their way to the collection. Xevious, Galaxian, and, of course, Pac-Man finally make their Atari 50 debut with a whole new timeline to tell the ta...

About 25 years ago, Kev Levine and Looking Glass Studios released one of the greatest games of all time, System Shock 2. Now, thanks to the efforts of Nightdive Studios, the game has returned better than ever on more platforms than ever before. To dive into what and how things have improved, I've recruited a few folks from the team to peek behind the curtain. Joining me to discuss are Nightdive's...