Atari closes down WizardWorks, the publisher responsible for numerous budget hunting game franchises.
Chalk up the closure of another Atari subsidiary. Most recently, Atari shuttered its wholly owned Legend Entertainment game development studio. And in late 2003, Atari closed its Hunt Valley Studio.
Today, Atari's Corporate Communications VP Nancy Bushkin confirmed its Minneapolis, MN-based operation was shut down earlier this month. The Minneapolis Studio, as it is referred to internally, is probably better known as WizardWorks, a publisher of budget titles that included the multimillion-selling Deer Hunter franchise.
WizardWorks first made waves shortly after it was bought by GT Interactive in 1996. Its Deer Hunter title, developed by Sunsoft and released in late 1997, went on to become the top-selling PC title for the first quarter of 1998. That original Deer Hunter title went on to spawn five sequels and add-ons galore. When GT Interactive was bought by Atari (then known at Infogrames) in 1999, WizardWorks came under the French publisher's aegis.
News source: GameSpot
