Atari Interactive

Atari Interactive is the IP holding subsidiary of Atari SA, the French company that currently owns the Atari brand. As a publisher, Atari Interactive has operated in a licensing and distribution capacity rather than as a traditional development publisher, picking up games that needed a home and putting its name behind legacy content tied to the Atari portfolio. Two of their most notable publishing credits are Ghostbusters: The Video Game in 2009 and the Nintendo Switch version of The Disney Afternoon Collection in 2026.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009)

How Atari Interactive Ended Up Publishing It

Ghostbusters: The Video Game had a troubled road to release. Vivendi Games merged with Activision to form Activision Blizzard, and Ghostbusters was one of the titles cut from their publishing slate. The game spent months in limbo with no publisher attached. In October 2008, Infogrames, the parent company of Atari Interactive, picked up the North American publishing rights alongside The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. The timing was deliberate, timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original film.

What Made the Game Worth Saving

Ghostbusters: The Video Game was developed by Terminal Reality and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, who also aided in the script. The original cast returned to voice their characters, including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, William Atherton, and Annie Potts. Aykroyd later described the game as essentially the third Ghostbusters movie, which is not an overstatement given how much of the film’s creative team was involved. It is also Harold Ramis’s final performance as Egon Spengler, and the 2019 remaster was dedicated to him. The game sold over three million copies and received generally favorable reviews. Atari Interactive published the North American release across all platforms while Sony handled some of the European PlayStation versions. Eventually a third and fourth movie were made. The movies contradict the story of the game, but even still, it was great seeing what could have been, had Harold Ramis returned to the role in live action.

The Disney Afternoon Collection (2017 and 2026)

The Original Release

The Disney Afternoon Collection was originally developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Capcom in April 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It collected six NES games based on the Disney Afternoon television block, including DuckTales, DuckTales 2, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2, TaleSpin, and Darkwing Duck. The collection included a rewind feature, boss rush and time attack modes, and museum galleries with archival content from the Disney vaults. It was well received and filled a genuine gap for anyone who grew up watching the Disney Afternoon cartoons in the early 1990s.

The Nintendo Switch Version

In February 2026 Atari published an expanded version of the collection for Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, adding two SNES games that were not in the original release, Goof Troop and Bonkers. It marked the first time either game had been officially available on Nintendo hardware in decades. The Switch version retained the rewind and time attack features from the 2017 release and added online leaderboards. For anyone who played these games as a kid, the collection holds up. DuckTales especially is as good as you remember it.

What Atari Interactive Represents as a Publisher

Atari Interactive is not a traditional publisher in the sense of funding and developing original games. Their role is closer to that of a steward, licensing properties, picking up games that need distribution, and curating legacy content under the Atari umbrella. Ghostbusters: The Video Game is the clearest example of that model working well, a game that almost never came out finding a publisher willing to take it on and reaching millions of players as a result. The Disney Afternoon Collection on Switch is a similar story, beloved retro content getting a new platform with a publisher willing to do the work of bringing it there.