“Millions of players have experienced these worlds over the years, and this will open the door for long time players to revisit those memories while inviting new audiences to discover them for the first time,” said New Business vice president Deborah Papiernik. “Atari has a rich gaming legacy and deep appreciation for these classic titles, we’re excited to see how they’ll evolve and connect with players in fresh, meaningful ways.”

With this acquisition, Atari has stated that it intends to bring back these smaller gaming experiences to a new audience, with releases being planned for current platforms with “renewed publishing frameworks”. Along with re-releasing the games under Atari’s publishing label, the company has also confirmed that it plans to work on expanding the audiences for them with new content and extended distribution channels as well.

“Ubisoft and Atari both have a legacy of crafting worlds that players can fall in love with — games that resonate with generations of players not just for how they played, but for how they made us feel,” Atari chairman and CEO Wade Rosen. “We’re excited to reintroduce these titles while also exploring ways to expand and evolve these franchises.”

For context, all of the IPs acquired by Atari have been dormant for quite some time, with the most recent of the releases being Grow Up, which came out in 2016 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. The oldest among these acquired IP is 2005’s Cold Fear, which was originally released on PC, PS2 and Xbox.

Atari has been expanding its portfolio quite a bit. Back in July, the company had announced a deal with Thunderful Group, which ended up with the company becoming an 82 percent of Thunderful Group’s shares and votes. As part of this deal, around €4.5 million worth of shares were issued, amounting to 333,333,334 new ordinary shares. This announcement also came in light of Thunderful Group going through a rough financial period which also resulted in the company laying off around 20 percent of its workforce.

“This transaction marks another important milestone in Atari’s development with the expansion of its publishing and development capabilities in the European region,” said Rosen about the agreement. “Thunderful is recognized for publishing and developing critically acclaimed games, and with the announced transformation plan, as well as the quality and commitment of Thunderful’s teams, we are confident that Thunderful will be returning to a profitable growth path while helping to further develop Atari operations in Europe.”

As for Ubisoft, the French gaming company had recently opened up a new subsidiary with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot’s son Charlie Guillemot taking up the position of co-CEO of this new subsidiary alongside Christophe Derennes. The new subsidiary was founded as part of a €1.16 billion deal between Ubisoft and Tencent.

Alligator

While animals have mostly been unaffected by the Green Poison Virus, something has changed the alligator in the sewers just off of Jefferson Drive SW. Look for the nearby sewer entrance, head down and keep walking until you find a set of iron bars preventing your advance. You’ll see the tail of a large alligator along with its equally imposing silhouette just beyond. The alligator doesn’t react to you nor does it take any damage. Is it just there to freak one out? It wouldn’t be the worst thing you find in the sewers.

Is Ubisoft prepping to announce a sequel to Grow Home in its E3 press conference?

That seems to be the case. A new title called Grow Up was leaked courtesy of the PEGI ratings board and it’s apparently releasing today for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. It’s genre is classified as “other” but it has a three rating, indicating that it’s meant for kids. Considering that describes Grow Home’s content – not including the similarities in naming – and it seems that Grow Up could indeed be a sequel.

Regardless, we’ll find out for sure at Ubisoft’s E3 conference at 1 PM PDT on June 13th. Other titles that will be showcased include The Division’s first paid DLC Underground, Watch Dogs 2, Ghost Recon Wildlands, and much more. Which game are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information as E3 rolls on.

Sony has announced its upcoming free games for September as part of the Instant Game Collection on PlayStation Plus. All subscribers are eligible to receive six free titles depending on the platforms they own.

PS4 players will be receiving Grow Home, which was decided as part of the new Vote to Play Initiative; and Super Time Force Ultra, an awesome platformer from Capybara Games (which is also developing Below for the Xbox One and PC). Thanks to cross-buy support, Teslagrad on the PS3 and Xeodrifter on the PS Vita will also be available to PS4 owners.

What do PS3 owners get? None other than Twisted Metal, David Jaffe’s 2012 sequel which brings back the series’ signature car combat. PS Vita owners will receive La Mulana EX, an “Archeological Ruins Exploration Action” title which pays tribute to the old-school platforming games of yore.

What are your thoughts on next month’s PS Plus offerings? Let us know in the comments.

Though not a monumentally hyped release like its other efforts in the past year, Ubisoft’s Grow Home has proven to be a quirky, fun and altogether intriguing new platformer from Ubisoft Reflections. It’s currently available on PC though, leaving many console games to hear about its great gameplay rather than being able to experience it for themselves.

That could change if Grow Home is successful on PC though. According to art director Jack Couvela on Twitter, “Want to see Grow Home on consoles? We have to prove ourselves on PC first, so tell every PC gamer you know they have to buy it!”

It also won’t be on iPad due to being designed specifically for controllers or Mac, again due to PC sales justifying said version. Regardless of whether one wants to see it on PS4, Xbox One, etc. it’s still worth one’s time and money.

Would you like to see Grow Home on consoles? Let us know in the comments.

Ubisoft has had a penchant for allowing its AAA designers and teams to work on smaller, “passion projects” over the past few years. It’s resulted in some great games like Child of Light, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and Valiant Hearts: The Great War and the newest one to join the ranks is Grow Home. Available today for Steam, you can check out the launch trailer for the game above.

Grow Home focuses on a robot who must climb back into orbit to reach its spaceship. Along with using a climbing system for controlling each hand separately, you’ll need to a create a beanstalk to eventually reach orbit. A combination of different materials influences the beanstalk’s growth. It’s intriguing and looks quite pretty.

Grow Home is available for $8 and you can pick it up here. What are your thoughts on the launch trailer or the game in question? Let us know in the comments.

Following the trend of Ubisoft allowing AAA designers to work on smaller, more creative titles, Ubisoft Reflections has announced Grow Home, a procedurally generated physics-based game. Players will control a robot that must climb back into orbit to reach its spaceship, echoing the classic fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. Check out the teaser trailer for the game above.

You’ll control the robot with the left and right triggers in order to climb. The shape of the growing plant can be influenced by players using different tools like parachutes and teleportation devices. The game’s tone and atmosphere, while not directly related to Child of Light or Valiant Hearts: The Great War, certainly fits into that offbeat creative niche that Ubisoft has been getting pretty good at.

Grow Home will be releasing on February 4th for PC via Steam but there’s a chance it could come to other platforms. What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments.