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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Via Gematsu

Atari has entered into an agreement with Thunderful Group to acquire approximately 82 percent of the outstanding shares and votes of Thunderful Group for approximately €4.5 million, the companies announced.

Thunderful Group encompasses a global games publishing business, five game studios with various creative and technological expertise, and a services business. Its 20-plus intellectual properties include SteamWorld, ISLANDERS, Lost in Random, and Vampire's Fall.

"This Transaction marks another important milestone in Atari's development with the expansion of its publishing and development capabilities in the European region," said Atari chairman and CEO Wade Rosen in a press release. "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."

Thunderful Group also announced a restructuring plan aiming at reorganizing its publishing and development operations, in order to reducing its cost base and improve operating cash flow. Company CEO Martin Walfisz will step down as CEO by December 31, 2025 in accordance with the restructuring plan.

Here is the full transaction summary:
​

Transaction Summary

Under the terms of the subscription agreement, Atari will become the owner of approximately 82% of the outstanding shares and votes of Thunderful by way of a directed issuance of 333,333,334 new ordinary shares1 at a subscription price of SEK 0.15, corresponding to a total amount of SEK 50 million (approximately €4.5 million) (the "Transaction").

The Transaction is subject to approval by Thunderful's shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting (the "EGM") which will be held on or about August 28, 2025 (the "EGM").

The Transaction has received unanimous support from Thunderful's Board of Directors, as well as from two of Thunderful's existing largest shareholders, Owe Bergsten and Brjann Sigurgeirsson, who together own 29.9% of the capital and voting rights in the Company. Owe Bergsten and Brjann Sigurgeirsson have irrevocably committed to vote in favor at the EGM of all the proposals and resolutions by the Board of Directors of the Company relating to the Transaction.

To enable Atari to complete the Transaction without being required to make a mandatory bid offer for the remaining shares in the Company under Swedish takeover rules, the Swedish Securities Council (Sw. Aktiemarknadsnamnden) has granted Atari an exemption.

If approved, the Transaction will be financed either with Atari's own resources or with a potential new loan agreement with IRATA LLC, the holding Company of Wade Rosen, Chairman and CEO of Atari, SA.

About Thunderful Group

Thunderful Group AB, listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market in Stockholm, Sweden (ticker: THUNDR) focuses on the publishing and development of high-quality digital games primarily for PC and console platforms. Headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, Thunderful spans a significant portion of the game industry value chain through its two main operating segments: Publishing and Co-Development & Services. For the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2024, the Company reported revenues of SEK292 M (approximately €25M). Thunderful encompasses a global games publishing business, five game studios with various creative and technological expertise, and a services business. The Company owns a portfolio of over 20 intellectual properties including SteamWorld, ISLANDERS, Lost in Random, and Vampire's Fall, notably. Thunderful has also announced today a restructuring plan aiming at reorganizing its publishing and development operations, in view of reducing its cost base and improving operating cash flow.​

 

[AJUMP23]

I guess the new guy running Atari is making money.

I know they are selling a lot of nostalgia.

 

[RoboFu]

I guess the new guy running Atari is making money.

I know they are selling a lot of nostalgia.

And new games. Atari Homebrew is big and now Atari is producing Carts for those indie devs to run on the plus series consoles.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Atari out here making more successful gaming acquisitions than SIE. What timeline is this?

 

[Shubh_C63]

I had not heard a single game out of these but seems they put out hits after hits.

Gunk, Planet of Lana, Viewfinder etc.

 

[Astray]

Atari out here making more successful gaming acquisitions than SIE. What timeline is this?

Successful? Thunderful has been struggling really badly and has liquidity issues.

Both them and Atari are penny stocks for a reason. Read this thread to learn more:

 

[blacktout]

Going to be a lot of salt on here when the next SteamWorld is exclusive to the 7200.

 

[Chittagong]

Is Bergsala still under the structure? Seems likely as Owe Bergsten is involved.

They have enormously profited of their position as Nintendo's oldest international distributor, to the detriment of consumers. Maybe Bergsala ending up under Atari puts an end to the distribution deal, and we get a Nintendo Nordics AB with prices aligned with Europe.

Currently Switch 2 without a game is 569eur in Finland, 495eur in Germany without a game, and 499e in France with Mario Kart World.

 

[Chittagong]

Wow, I did a bit of reading about the Thunderful history, and they have absolutely ran this thing to the ground.

They were acquiring like mad..

Thunderful Group acquired the British studio Coatsink for about £23 million in October 2020

In September 2021, Thunderful Group acquired Madrid, Spain-based developer Stage Clear Studios in a deal worth up to €2.5 million

In November 2022, Thunderful acquired British developer Jumpship, creator of Somerville, for an undisclosed sum.

…all that remains of these and other studio acquisitions is 4.5meur. Absolutely incredible.

Unfortunately, Bergsala escaped the flames last year, so Nintendo Nordic shall remain a dream.

On May 21, 2024, Thunderful Group AB (publ) ("Thunderful" or the "Company") announced through a press release that it had entered into a share transfer agreement regarding the transfer (the "Transaction") of the remaining distribution businesses AMO Toys AB, Bergsala Aktiebolag, Thunderful 1 AB and the distribution services company Thunderful Solutions AB (together the "Subsidiaries") to Bergsala NDP AB, a company owned by Thunderful's largest shareholder and board member, Owe Bergsten. Thunderful hereby announces that the Transaction has been completed and the Subsidiaries are now fully owned by Bergsala NDP AB.

EDIT:

Oof, Thunderful even netted $59M for the sale of Bergsala back to Owe Bergsten

According to the official announcement, Thunderful Group will sell Amo Toys, Bergsala Aktiebolag, Thunderful 1, and Thunderful Solutions to Bergsala for SEK 634 million ($59.2 million).

They have absolutely torched it

 

[ReBurn]

Hopefully this ends up being good for Atari and keeps momentum going on their publishing side.

The plus series hardware scratches a nostalgia itch in a pretty amazing way, imo. And hopefully they rescued Intellivision from Tommy Tallarico and they do something cool with it soon.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Atari is really making moves these days.

To be honest, I thought Thunderful was worth more, but perhaps not. It just felt like they'd grown a lot recently, beyond just the Image & Form Steamworld stuff.

 

[Futaleufu]

Steamworld games are good, I expect this gives them the chance to grow the brand

 

[Evil Calvin]

Put the Atari 2600 Activison games in a collection you cowards! (not on that retro GamePass streaming thing)

 

[Kuranghi]

Steamworld Dig 2 was one of the best metroidlikes I've played, I really hope this means SwD3 will get proper funding and an appropriately passionate team

 

[John Bilbo]

I hope SteamWorld survives.

 

[Hookshot]

All they had to do was keeping making Digs with fancier abilities and yet they branched out into all sorts of duds that sold worse.

 

[Futaleufu]

All they had to do was keeping making Digs with fancier abilities and yet they branched out into all sorts of duds that sold worse.

Heist and Build are very good, even if you dont like strategy or town building games you may like them

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Successful? Thunderful has been struggling really badly and has liquidity issues.

Both them and Atari are penny stocks for a reason. Read this thread to learn more:

At least it's gaming-centric. Can't say the same of Sony Corp's partnerships with Kadokawa and Bandai-Namco.

In any case it's nice to see an old name (even if this isn't the old-school Atari) still finding a way in the gaming space today. Who knows; maybe together they can build and become something better. There's always the possibility, small as it is.

 

[Hudo]

The current iteration of Atari and the revived Microprose continue to surprise me.