Atari acquires the rights to the classic Legendary Wizardry RPGs 1-5

Update 10:22 UTC - the situation is not as clear as expected, as Drecom are disputing Atari's ownership. As they posted on X/Twitter:

Some media outlets have reported that Atari SA (hereinafter "Atari") has acquired rights related to the IP "Wizardry" (ウィザードリィ), for which our company holds trademark rights domestically and internationally, from DREaM Communications Inc. (hereinafter "our company"). However, no such fact exists. Our company has no intention of selling the trademark rights or other rights to "Wizardry" that we hold in the future.

Our company has previously received notification from Atari that Atari acquired the rights to the first through fifth titles of the "Wizardry" series from the original rights holder.

Our company will continue to hold the domestic and international trademark rights to the "Wizardry" series and will continue to manage the "Wizardry" IP brand.

We've reached out to Atari for further info.

Original article below:

Atari are continuing their gradual acquiring spree, as they just announced they've sucked up the the rights to multiple classic Legendary Wizardry RPGs.

From the press release:

“When Andrew Greenberg and I created Wizardry back in the 1980s, the video game industry was still in its infancy, and the original games were some of the first to bring the role-playing experience to PCs and consoles,” said Robert Woodhead, co-creator of the Wizardry franchise. “As Atari continues to reintroduce the games on new platforms and to new audiences, I'll definitely be paying attention to the reactions of gamers who decide to take on a real old-school challenge.”

“Wizardry is such an influential RPG franchise, yet many of the games have been unavailable for more than two decades,” said Wade Rosen, CEO and Chairman of Atari. “We are excited to have this rare opportunity to republish, remaster and bring console ports and physical releases of these early games to market.”

It doesn't included everything though - notably missing are Wizardry titles 6, 7 and 8 which are owned by Drecom and a different fictional universe. What they do now own are: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (1981), Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds (1982), Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn (1983), Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna (1987), and Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom (1988).

Atari said they plan to bring them back through "expanded digital and physical distribution and the creation of remasters, collections, and new releases" along with various forms of merchandise, card and board games, books and comics, TV and film projects.

Other previous Atari acquisitions include five classic Ubisoft titles, the Thunderful Group, Transport Tycoon from Chris Sawyer, the Surgeon Simulator franchise, the Intellivision brand and over 200 games, Night Dive Studios and more.