Atari Corporation - 1993 dated Arcade Game Co. Stock Certificate - Currently French Owned of the Original Brand Name

Stock printed by Security-Columbian United States Banknote Corp.

Atari, a brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972, is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA. The original Atari, Inc., founded in Sunnyvale, California in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles, and home computers. Their products, such as Pong and the Atari 2600, played a pivotal role in shaping the electronic entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.

However, in 1984, the video game crash of 1983 led to the division of the original Atari Inc. The arcade division was transformed into Atari Games Inc., which gained the rights to use the Atari logo and brand name with the appended text “Games” on arcade games. Additionally, Atari Games acquired the rights to the original 1972-1984 arcade hardware properties. The Atari Consumer Electronics Division properties were subsequently sold to Jack Tramiel’s Tramel Technology Ltd., which later renamed itself to Atari Corporation.

In 1996, Atari Corporation underwent a reverse merger with disk-drive manufacturer JT Storage (JTS), becoming a division within the company. In 1998, Hasbro Interactive acquired all Atari Corporation-related properties from JTS, establishing a new subsidiary, Atari Interactive.

Atari SA, formerly known as Infogrames Entertainment SA, is a French video game holding company headquartered in Paris. Its subsidiaries include Atari Interactive and Atari, Inc. Atari SA currently holds the Atari brand through Atari Interactive. Facing mounting pressures and challenges in securing investors, Atari SA sought bankruptcy protection under French law in January 2013. Consequently, its subsidiaries in the United States also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Fortunately, all three subsidiaries have since emerged from bankruptcy.