Wizardry, originally coded in BASIC at the turn of the 80s, was one of the early greats in computer role-playing games, spawning a long-running series with countless spin-offs. It is now the property of Atari, following a successful remake by the latter of the first title in the series.
This highly influential IP, often referred to as the 'Original Wizardry' and 'The Llylgamyn Saga', set the cornerstone for the Japanese RPG genre. The acquisition also includes many other Wizardry-related video games, contract rights, and other related intellectual property.
Wizardry's enormous popularity and influence in Japan led to many titles there made under license, which aren't included in the deal. But Atari has the original five games for PC (Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord , Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds, Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn, Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna, and Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom), games for Nintendo and Super Nintendo and the "underlying IP," including the setting and "many other Wizardry-related video games, contract rights, and other related intellectual property."
The original Wizardry NES, SNES and PC games as well as the underlying IP, including spells, characters, places, and monsters from the original Wizardry universe, have been unavailable to developers and fans for more than 25 years. Atari is excited to bring these genre-defining games back to market through expanded digital and physical distribution and the creation of remasters, collections, and new releases. In addition, Game publishing will be complemented by the release of merchandise, card and board games, books and comics, and TV and film projects as part of a long-term plan to build an entertainment franchise based on the Original Wizardry games.
Here's co-creator Robert Woodhead: "When Andrew Greenberg and I created Wizardry back in the 1980s, the video game industry was still in its infancy, and the original games were some of the first to bring the role-playing experience to PCs and consoles. As Atari continues to reintroduce the games on new platforms and to new audiences, I'll definitely be paying attention to the reactions of gamers who decide to take on a real old-school challenge."
Atari published a remake of the original Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord in 2024, which combined the original with a fancy modern UI and graphics. It was generally well-received (and won a Grammy award for its music) so Atari is well-positioned to prove itself a sane overlord.
Previously:
• Wizardry co-creator Andrew Greenberg dead at 67
• If you need a super-thin lead pencil to make maps for your 1980s dungeon crawler videogames, this one will do
