In a blast from the past, Atari teased a new video game console in the form of a teaser video from their CEO. Not much is known about it aside from the fact that it will be called the Ataribox. In other video game news, noted "Hitman" developer IO Interactive announced that they have become an independent company.
What do we know about the Ataribox?
In a statement released by Atari CEO Fred Chesnais, he announced that a new Atari video game console was on the way. In the vague 21-second video the console was only teased but it does suggest that the Ataribox will have a wood-grain design.
Chesnais confirmed that the long-time video game company is "back in the hardware business" in an interview with GamesBeat. The only detail he gave away about the system is that it will be based on PC technology. He also added that the design in not finalized and more information about the console will be shared in the future.
Atari has not released a home console since the Atari Jaguar released in North America over two decades ago in 1993. The system was deemed a commercial failure and ended Atari's run in the console market. Prior to the Jaguar the company released four other video game consoles back in their heyday. These were the Atari Home Pong Console (1975), the Atari 2600 (1977), the Atari 5200 (1982), the Atari 7800 (1986) and the Atari XGES (1987).
IO Interactive becomes independent
The CEO of IO Interactive, Hakan Abrak, made the announcement on the company's website. The video game developer finally finished their negotiations with Japanese video game company Square Enix and the two sides came to an agreement on a management buyout. This means that the Danish developer is now an independent studio one month after Square Enix announced that they would be parting ways with IO Interactive.
An especially important part of this for IO Interactive was the fate of the "Hitman" IP. They were happy to announce that they would be keeping all the rights to their popular and critically-acclaimed stealth-action franchise. IO Interactive has developed all six of the major installments in the series and will announce their future plans sometime next week.
Season one of their episodic take on "Hitman" wrapped up in October and they originally said that the plan was to have three seasons of the game. IO's only other series is the 'Kane & Lynch' franchise, but there is no word on where that franchise will end up following the separation.
