Infogrames started in Lyon in 1983 with a made-up name and a taste for the unusual, and it ended up owning one of the most famous names in gaming. Along the way it did something remarkable: with Alone in the Dark in 1992, it more or less invented survival horror, years before Resident Evil, dropping you into a haunted Louisiana mansion rendered in eerie 3D. That gift for the dark and strange ran through everything it made, the Lovecraftian adventures, the gothic role-playing, the French sense of style. And then Infogrames went on a buying spree, swallowed studio after studio, and in 2003 renamed itself Atari.
This is the studio's arc: the birth of survival horror, the dark French adventures, and the empire it built on the way to becoming a legend's name. Here is the map.
The essential Infogrames
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From a Lyon bedroom to the Atari name
Infogrames had two lives. The first was as a scrappy, arty French developer with a weakness for horror and the uncanny: Alone in the Dark, the Call of Cthulhu adventures, the gothic role-playing of Koudelka, the strange beauty of Silver. The second was as a ravenous global publisher that bought Ocean, GT Interactive, Hasbro Interactive and the rights to a hundred franchises, published Neverwinter Nights and Unreal Tournament, and finally took the most storied name in games history for itself, becoming Atari in 2003.
The Alone in the Dark saga
The haunted house that started a genre
Dark, gothic and strange
Lovecraft, doom-laden RPGs and French style
The empire it published
The franchises Infogrames gathered
A short history of Infogrames
- 1983Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet found Infogrames in Lyon, France.
- 1992Alone in the Dark effectively invents survival horror, years ahead of its imitators.
- 1995The Call of Cthulhu adventures cement Infogrames' taste for the gothic and strange.
- 1999A wave of acquisitions, including GT Interactive, turns Infogrames into a global publisher.
- 2002Infogrames publishes Neverwinter Nights, one of the biggest role-playing games of its era.
- 2003Infogrames renames itself Atari, taking the most famous name in video game history.
- 2008The overextended empire unwinds, but Alone in the Dark's influence endures.
The people who built Infogrames
The founder and the creator of survival horror. Follow either to their full catalogue.
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It invented survival horror in a haunted French-made mansion, then bought so much of the industry it could rename itself Atari. That was Infogrames.
Frequently asked
What is Infogrames best known for?
Inventing survival horror with Alone in the Dark (1992), its Call of Cthulhu adventures and other dark, gothic games, and for growing into a global publisher that renamed itself Atari in 2003.
Did Infogrames really invent survival horror?
Alone in the Dark (1992) is widely regarded as the first true survival horror game, using fixed cinematic camera angles, polygonal characters on pre-rendered backgrounds and Lovecraftian dread, years before Resident Evil popularised the genre.
Is Infogrames the same as Atari?
Infogrames acquired the Atari brand through its purchase of Hasbro Interactive and, in 2003, renamed itself Atari. The French company founded in Lyon in 1983 effectively became the modern Atari.
Who founded Infogrames?
Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet founded Infogrames in Lyon in 1983. Frederick Raynal, who created Alone in the Dark there, is one of its most important creative figures.