Atari and Fig strike two-game deal

Atari is teaming up with the crowdfunding platform Fig to bring two new projects to life, though they remain tight lipped on what either might be.

Despite a prestigious legacy of arcade classics, Atari hasn't brought much to the fore in recent years. However, this new deal with Fig has promised a reboot of one of its "most beloved intellectual properties" and an entirely new IP.

"Fig is providing a model where gamers not only help to get the titles they are most passionate about funded, but also have the opportunity to share in the financial returns with developers and publishers," said Fred Chesnais, CEO of Atari. "We're excited that Fig has opened up the vast potential of crowdfunding to IP holder and publisher alike by changing the narrative and allowing us to partner with our fans."

Fig is a new take on the traditional crowdfunding platform, providing PR and marketing resources, offering development advances, and even allowing backers to buy shares in projects. Fig has enjoyed a lot of success since its launch in 2015 and demonstrated a good track record on securing funding.

In January 2016 Psychonauts 2 raised $3.8m, and in February of this year Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire topped that with $4.4m. A number of other successfully funded campaigns include $3.1m for Wasteland 3, $765,00 for Phoenix Point, and $445,000 for Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch.

But while Fig has shown it can secure huge sums of cash for promising titles, the platform has had little opportunity to prove itself as a publisher. Exploration puzzler Trackless, and medieval city builder Kingdoms and Castles are the only successfully funded games to make it out into the wild so far. Although Kingdoms and Castles proved a hit, seeing a 100% return on investment in 48 hours and generating $1m in revenue in two weeks, it's not an awful lot to go on.