“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.

Not all games that come out of Ubisoft are meant to be triple-A, open world titles with check lists of stuff to do. Some of them, like Ubisoft Reflections’ Ode, are simpler but equally charming. From the team that developed Grow Home and Grow Up, Ode is meant to be a musical platformer of sorts. Check out the launch trailer below to see how it plays.

Essentially, you roll around in a ball across a unique, vibrant landscape searching for objects that help make music. The overall tone is playful but still incredibly mysterious – we can dig it. If you want to pick up Ode, it’s currently available on the Uplay Store for PC at £4.49.

If you’re curious about Ubisoft Reflections’ other work, then check out our review for Grow Up here. The development team also brought us the unorthodox multiplayer shooter Atomega which is currently 50 percent off on Steam.

"Grow Up does add a whole bunch of new things to further encourage exploration and survival in this height oriented adventure."

With the success of Grow Home, it only seemed a matter of time before Grow Up came about. The lovable B.U.D. is back and the mission this time is to collect pieces of M.O.M. after it enters an asteroid field and separates into various locations on a completely alien planet. From the outset, Grow Up throws in a lot of the signature “wacky” humour that Ubisoft is known for. Much of this is supplied by P.O.D., a drone-like assistant that teaches you about the various mechanics in the game world. P.O.D. can even act as your eye in the sky to examine a map of the planet and set waypoints. Teleportation points, which also act as respawn points, are scattered throughout the world, both ensuring a healthy number of checkpoints and a decent fast travel system for getting around quickly.

If you played even a few minutes of Grow Home, then Grow Up will be incredibly familiar. B.U.D. starts out with the ability to jump and essentially climbs up surfaces with the left and right bumpers/triggers. It takes some getting used to, especially when you’re trying to make great haste, and you can only jump off said surface by releasing those triggers. On the one hand, it creates an extra thrill as you’re not sure if you’ll execute the jump perfectly. On the other hand, when a game like this demands some level of precision for its challenges, more intuitiveness wouldn’t have been a bad thing. That’s just me nitpicking of course.

Grow Up does add a whole bunch of new things to further encourage exploration and survival in this height-oriented adventure. B.U.D. can absorb the DNA of flora forms in the environment and thus create planets to provide different advantages. There’s a miniature pollen geyser which launches you in the air, a bouncy mushroom, a tall stalk that slightly droops when planted vertically and much more. Over time, some of the flora forms tend to mix together in terms of functionality – like the flower pod that’s more compact than the pollen geyser but serves the same function – but they’re each generally useful in their own right.

"The issue arises when the camera starts clipping into objects or suddenly swinging in a different direction."

B.U.D. also receives quite the array of new abilities. The jetpack is unlocked pretty early on and gives way to gliding, rolling around and much more. Special suits can also be equipped for different purposes like bumping up your gliding speed. Those are usually earned by completing the various P.O.D. challenges scattered throughout the world. A number of crystals can also be discovered throughout the world which subsequently power up your abilities further.

Here’s the thing though – Grow Up is a little too similar to Grow Home at times even with all the different mechanics thrown in. At times, I would ignore the flora forms and just maneuver Starplants into energy rocks to soar high enough to collect pieces of M.O.M. This isn’t to say flora forms are useless but they’re not quite as game changing as some of the new abilities.

It’s also worth noting that the fundamental gameplay of Grow Up could have used some excessive fine-tuning. Precise jumps and landings are required, especially in a height-focused game like this, but the movement tends to feel a bit too floaty. Even when B.U.D. is clasping on to things, his movement can get a bit janky. The animation looks less than fluid in those cases. And while generally tumbling around on the ground while walking isn’t a big issue, the movement becomes a problem when you overshoot jumps or fall down a significant distance, thus necessitating a slow climb back up. Also, who in the world decided it was a good idea to invert the controls when controlling a Starplant’s growth? Even after growing it out numerous times, it still took getting used to.

The camera is also not very helpful. To properly ascertain jumps or points to go, you’ll find yourself re-adjusting it regularly. Which isn’t even the main issue, by the way. The issue arises when the camera starts clipping into objects or suddenly swinging in a different direction. The latter never really arose much but the times it did happen confused me to no end. Throw in the odd movement and you have a pretty good amount of frustration to deal with during some of the P.O.D. challenges.

"This isn’t Assassin’s Creed Syndicate or The Division by any means and yet, Grow Up tends to stutter every now and again with its frame rate."

Thankfully, even with the similarities to Grow Home, Grow Up‘s world still looks fairly stunning. Each flora form is unique and never feels out of place on this colourful planet. Growing Starplants and watching several attachments, mushrooms and other flora take shape in the process is cool. It’s also incredibly fun to just gaze down at the world, especially when taking a huge dive off of a mountain top and gliding around. For all the simplicity of its art style, Grow Up achieves a strong visual presentation.

That’s why the slight frame stutters and drops are all the weirder. This isn’t Assassin’s Creed Syndicate or The Division by any means and yet, Grow Up tends to stutter every now and again with its frame rate. Granted, it’s nowhere near as bad The Division’s stutters but again, when the visuals are this simple, it shouldn’t really be that big of a problem on the Xbox One to begin with.

Grow Up is an intriguing adventure for both those who haven’t played Grow Home and those who relished the original. Veterans will appreciate the quirky humour and new mechanics despite the overtly familiar gameplay, technical issues and annoying movement. New players will find a relatively short game that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, presenting a pretty world and a simple premise that will carry them through some decent main missions. There won’t be much reason to return beyond that, unless you want to torture yourself with P.O.D. challenges. Overall, Grow Up comes across as a Ubisoft sequel following the experimental opener – it’s typically enjoyable enough if you keep your expectations low but requires much more polish.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox One.

No Man’s Sky

After many years of hype, Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky will finally be releasing. Billed as an open space adventure where players have the freedom to explore, fight and trade, No Man’s Sky boasts 18 quintillion planets to explore thanks to its procedural generation capabilities. Whether it lives up to the hype or not, there’s no denying that No Man’s Sky will quench our thirst for adventure on PS4 and PC come August 9th.

F1 2016

With a new career mode packed with ten seasons, F1 2016 promises its most immersive Formula One experience yet. Players will create their own character, earning contracts and joining teams to advance further up the ranks and become more successful. F1 2016 is out on August 19th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC – if highly realistic racing from Codemasters is your thing, this will be worth checking out.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Set a few years after Human Revolution, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided sees the return of Adam Jensen in a world fraught with even more danger. New abilities and on the fly weapon customization combined with even more player freedom for approaching missions should allow for one of the better FPS/RPG experiences since…well, since Human Revolution. Look out for it on August 23rd for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Grow Up

It’s amazing how one of the better titles to emerge from Ubisoft last year was also one of its most experimental. Grow Up is the sequel you didn’t know you wanted and will see the return of BUD as he explores a new planet while seeking to repair his ship. The game’s puzzle heavy approach returns as BUD uses new tools – like the Floradex 3000 – to take advantage of 24 different plant species and their abilities. Grow Up is out on August 16th and will be heading to the Xbox One (unlike its predecessor) along with PS4 and PC.

Abzû

From the director of Flower and Journey comes diving simulator Abzû. This isn’t your typical realistic swimmer though – Abzû features highly artistic visuals courtesy of Unreal Engine 4 and offers linear exploration in a mysterious sea. Interacting with fish, exploring underwater ruins and being one with the sea make Abzû one of the more peaceful titles to look out for on August 2nd for PS4 and PC.

The King of Fighters XIV

SNK’s premier fighting franchise returns once more with The King of Fighters XIV. Featuring 48 characters along with two boss characters, KOF XIV makes use of a new Max Mode for special EX moves and even implements the Garou‘s Just Defend feature. Online mode seems pretty simple at this point but that’s KOF for you. It’s out on August 23rd for PS4.

Verdun

Before Battlefield 1, there was Verdun. Having begun in open beta way back in June 2013, Verdun features realistic squad-based World War I gameplay for up to 32 players. Interestingly, Verdun sports some cool game modes like Rifle Deathmatch where players are all armed with rifles and Frontlines, a trench warfare assault mode where teams take turns attacking and defending. Available on PC already, Verdun hits PS4 and Xbox One on August 30th.

World of Warcraft: Legion

The Burning Legion returns and players must team up with the Demon Hunters to push them back in World of Warcraft’s Legion expansion. With a new class in the Demon Hunter, balance changes,  Artifact weapons (with 36 unique weapons for each class), order halls, a new transmogrification system and of course, plenty of new areas to explore and quests to complete, Legion is just the fix for those disappointed with Warlords of Draenor.

Madden NFL 17

Say and think what you will about EA’s Madden franchise – the publisher clearly knows what it’s doing if it keeps raking in success. Madden NFL 17 will introduce some new features – as the sequels are wont to do – such as the new ball carrier UI, Path Assist, a revamped Franchise Mode and new announcers in the form of Brandon Gaudine and Charles Davis. Look out for it on August 23rd for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PS4.

Bound

Bizarre 3D platformer Bound caught our attention thanks to its vivid art style and expressive motion capture. Touted as one large puzzle that will appeal to those seeking a highly narrative experience, Bound will also include a fair amount of procedural generation. It arrives on August 16th exclusively for PS4.

Grow Up, the sequel to Ubisoft’s Grow Home, will be releasing on August 17th as per a PlayStation Store listing. Ubisoft hasn’t officially confirmed the release date and it’s possible that it’s a placeholder. We know the game is set for August though so this could likely be real but standby for confirmation.

The price is listed as £7.99 with PlayStation Plus subscribers able to purchase it for £6.39. Players take control of BUD, a robot that explores a new planet to gather parts and fix his spaceship called MOM.

The first game Grow Home began as a neat experiment by a small team at Ubisoft Reflections and takes inspiration from properties like WALL-E. It garnered its fair share of critical acclaim and was released for PC and PS4.

Thankfully, Grow Up will be out on Xbox One, PC and PS4. Are you looking forward to it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.

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.