Atari has acquired PS1 emulation powerhouse Implicit Conversions, a studio known for its work porting original PlayStation retro games to modern platforms. 

Atari, who also owns PC remaster legends Nightdive Studios, has picked up the Delaware-based porting studio as part of its ongoing efforts to become the go-to publisher for retro revivals. 

As reported by GamesBeat, Atari has acquired the studio to port classic PlayStation games using its in-house Syrup Engine, which supports 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit titles. 

Implicit Conversions has already worked with Atari in the past. Recently, the studio helped to create the Mortal Kombat – Legacy Kollection alongside Digital Eclipse, another retro-focused studio owned by Atari. Additionally, the studio also assisted in the recent Rayman 30th Anniversary Collection. 

“Implicit Conversions’ ability to work with 32-bit era games using their proprietary Syrup engine complements our existing expertise with 8 and 16-bit era games,” Atari CEO Wade Rosen said of the acquisition in a statement.

Alongside its original PlayStation pedigree, the studio’s aforementioned Syrup Engine is also said to be seeing a major internal overhaul. This overhaul will allow the studio to expand further with support for PlayStation 2-era titles. 

Rosen explained that the acquisition of Nightdive, Digital Eclipse, and Implicit Conversions has created an “enviable suite of proprietary tools, and more engineering talent” to revive Atari’s own catalogue as well as further collaborations with third-party IPs for new remasters, collections, and ports of beloved games. 

Furthermore, in a separate statement, Implicit Conversions head of operations Bill Litshauer explained that Atari’s main reason behind its acquisition of the studio is due to its “PlayStation experience and our ongoing work with [PS1 emulator] Waffle”.

However, Litshauer explained that the studio is “continuing to develop for Pancake (PS1), developing Waffle (PS2), and then setting our eyes to the future with Benedict (PS3). 

While playing retro games on their original hardware is always fantastic, it’s clear that there is a deep desire from gamers to have their favourite classic games available, whether that’s through simple ports or more advanced remasters. While not every remaster collection released through Atari has been perfect, it’s better to have these games available in some form rather than only available on their original playroom, especially as scalping continues to affect the retro gaming market.