Atari signs The Witcher

by: Chuck - posted: 2/5/2007 7:31:00 PM

Good news for RPG gamers as Atari has agreed to publish CD Projekt's RPG, The Witcher, here in North America.  I was really impressed with the game at E3 this year and it is pretty amazing what CD Projeckt had done with Bioware's Aurora engine.  The game looks to be released sometime this fall and if you want more information on the game you should check out the interview we did last year.

ATARI AND CD PROJEKT SIGN PUBLISHING AGREEMENT FOR ‘THE WITCHER’

 

- Highly Anticipated PC Role-Playing Game Confirmed for Fall 2007 North American Release -

 

NEW YORK, February 5, 2007 – Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), one of the world’s most recognized brands and a third-party video game publisher, and game developer CD Projekt Sp. z.o.o. today announced that the companies have entered into a publishing agreement for The Witcher, whereby Atari will market and distribute CD Projekt’s upcoming fantasy role-playing game (RPG) throughout North America. The Witcher is scheduled for release on Games for Windows, the new brand optimized for Windows XP and Windows Vista, in North America in Fall 2007.

 

The Witcher transcends traditional fantasy role-playing by throwing players into a unique world rife with political intrigue, in which the lines between good and evil are blurred.  Based on the world created by best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, The Witcher casts players as Geralt, a legendary monster slayer and master swordfighter with supernatural abilities and reflexes. The Witcher presents a fresh approach to traditional role-playing, blending an expansive, twisting plotline – in which the impact of individual decisions can drastically alter the outcome of the game – and fast-paced combat against a wide variety of foes. Using advanced graphics and physics systems, The Witcher delivers brutal action, multi-faceted RPG options and an intriguing story to engulf all players who dare.

 

“The Witcher is a tremendous game that has been on everyone’s radar since CD Projekt began development,” said Jeremiah Cohn, Product Manager, Atari, Inc.  “With this publishing deal, Atari continues its quest to bring highly impressive titles to North America and we have our sights set on making The Witcher one of the most anticipated RPGs of the year.”

 

“We are delighted to begin a mutually beneficial relationship with Atari, a publishing partner that shares our commitment to delivering a top-quality role-playing game,” said Michal Kicinski, Joint CEO of CD Projekt. “We are very much looking forward to working with Atari to bring this distinctive fantasy world that we love to a broad audience.”

 

For more information about The Witcher visit www.thewitcher.com and for more details about Atari’s entire product line up visit www.atari.com.

 

About CD Projekt

Founded in 1994, CD Projekt is one of Eastern Europe's largest game distributors, with offices in Warsaw and Prague. The company specializes in localization and publishing role-playing games, having brought such hits as Baldur's Gate, Diablo, Neverwinter Nights and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind to the Polish market. In September 2003, the company’s development branch, CD Projekt RED, announced its first internally developed game, The Witcher®. More information about CD Projekt can be found online at www.cdprojekt.com.

 

About Atari

New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is a third-party publisher of interactive entertainment software in the U.S.  The Company’s 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining franchises such as The Matrix™ (Enter The Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo) and Test Drive®; and mass-market and children’s franchises such as Dragon Ball Z®.  Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext – ISIN: FR-0000052573), one of the largest interactive games publisher in Europe.  For more information, visit www.atari.com.

 

Safe Harbor Statement

With the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain certain "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this release are not promises or guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. We caution you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein. Some of the factors which could cause our results to differ materially include the following: the loss of key customers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, GameStop and EB Games; delays in product development and related product release schedules; inability to secure capital; adapting to the rapidly changing industry technology, including new console technology; maintaining relationships with leading independent video game software developers; maintaining or acquiring licenses to intellectual property; fluctuations in the Company's quarterly net revenues and results of operations based on the seasonality of our industry; the termination or modification of our agreements with hardware manufacturers; and other factors described in our SEC filings.

The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations.

 

- Highly Anticipated PC Role-Playing Game Confirmed for Fall 2007 North American Release -

 

NEW YORK, February 5, 2007 – Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), one of the world’s most recognized brands and a third-party video game publisher, and game developer CD Projekt Sp. z.o.o. today announced that the companies have entered into a publishing agreement for The Witcher, whereby Atari will market and distribute CD Projekt’s upcoming fantasy role-playing game (RPG) throughout North America. The Witcher is scheduled for release on Games for Windows, the new brand optimized for Windows XP and Windows Vista, in North America in Fall 2007.

 

The Witcher transcends traditional fantasy role-playing by throwing players into a unique world rife with political intrigue, in which the lines between good and evil are blurred.  Based on the world created by best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, The Witcher casts players as Geralt, a legendary monster slayer and master swordfighter with supernatural abilities and reflexes. The Witcher presents a fresh approach to traditional role-playing, blending an expansive, twisting plotline – in which the impact of individual decisions can drastically alter the outcome of the game – and fast-paced combat against a wide variety of foes. Using advanced graphics and physics systems, The Witcher delivers brutal action, multi-faceted RPG options and an intriguing story to engulf all players who dare.

 

“The Witcher is a tremendous game that has been on everyone’s radar since CD Projekt began development,” said Jeremiah Cohn, Product Manager, Atari, Inc.  “With this publishing deal, Atari continues its quest to bring highly impressive titles to North America and we have our sights set on making The Witcher one of the most anticipated RPGs of the year.”

 

“We are delighted to begin a mutually beneficial relationship with Atari, a publishing partner that shares our commitment to delivering a top-quality role-playing game,” said Michal Kicinski, Joint CEO of CD Projekt. “We are very much looking forward to working with Atari to bring this distinctive fantasy world that we love to a broad audience.”

 

For more information about The Witcher visit www.thewitcher.com and for more details about Atari’s entire product line up visit www.atari.com.

 

About CD Projekt

Founded in 1994, CD Projekt is one of Eastern Europe's largest game distributors, with offices in Warsaw and Prague. The company specializes in localization and publishing role-playing games, having brought such hits as Baldur's Gate, Diablo, Neverwinter Nights and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind to the Polish market. In September 2003, the company’s development branch, CD Projekt RED, announced its first internally developed game, The Witcher®. More information about CD Projekt can be found online at www.cdprojekt.com.

 

About Atari

New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is a third-party publisher of interactive entertainment software in the U.S.  The Company’s 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining franchises such as The Matrix™ (Enter The Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo) and Test Drive®; and mass-market and children’s franchises such as Dragon Ball Z®.  Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext – ISIN: FR-0000052573), one of the largest interactive games publisher in Europe.  For more information, visit www.atari.com.

 

Safe Harbor Statement

With the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain certain "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this release are not promises or guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and are naturally subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. We caution you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein. Some of the factors which could cause our results to differ materially include the following: the loss of key customers, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, GameStop and EB Games; delays in product development and related product release schedules; inability to secure capital; adapting to the rapidly changing industry technology, including new console technology; maintaining relationships with leading independent video game software developers; maintaining or acquiring licenses to intellectual property; fluctuations in the Company's quarterly net revenues and results of operations based on the seasonality of our industry; the termination or modification of our agreements with hardware manufacturers; and other factors described in our SEC filings.

The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations.