Last year Atari celebrated its 50th anniversary with, among other things, the appropriately titled Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. The collection was like a playable museum of sorts, featuring not just games from Atari’s past but also all kinds of archival material that put the games and the company into a broader context. We were huge fans of it.
Today Atari gave notice that they’re not finished with celebrating their 50th anniversary, with the news that Atari 50 will be getting a holiday update — the first, apparently, of several planned updates. This update will bring 12 new games to the anthology, and will mix together prototypes, homebrews, and official titles.
No word yet on what those games are, but you can read more below and start speculating now!
Let the celebrations resume! Today, historic video game publisher Atari and developer Digital Eclipse tease the first free content update for the interactive anthology experience Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration.
Coming December 5, 2023, this update rings in the holiday season with the addition of 12 fan-favorite Atari 2600 titles from the console’s heyday. From officially released titles and player-powered homebrews, to once-lost Atari prototypes, Atari 50 shapes up to be the gift that keeps on giving.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration’s holiday update brings 12 new titles to the anthology, giving novice gaming historians an even deeper look into the legacy of the grandfather of the gaming industry. A mix of prototypes, homebrews, and official titles, this new update seeks to expand the library of the interactive virtual museum Atari 50 brought to players in 2022. This update isn’t exhaustive, though — it’s the first of many planned by Atari and its partner in video game preservation Digital Eclipse. Future planned updates will expand the title’s repertoire with more games, concept art, and additional behind-the-scenes interviews with industry legends.
Praised by outlets like IGN, Giant Bomb, Metro, and Forbes, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration sets itself apart from typical video game collections by offering a vibrant journey through the company’s storied past. Bringing together the emulation of eight distinct Atari hardware platforms in a single package, this title stands as an impressive feat realized by the award-winning Digital Eclipse team. Encompassing titles spanning five decades, the collection comprises a library of published works that vividly illustrate the evolution of mainstream gaming and the influential Atari games that shaped the landscape of the video game industry as we recognize it today.
Developed by Digital Eclipse, Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Series X|S, PlayStation 4|5, and Windows PC via Steam and Epic Games Store for $39.99.