Atari has acquired retro emulation studio Implicit Conversions, which specialises in PS1 ports

Atari has acquired Implicit Conversions, an emulation studio which specialises in ports of games up to the 32-bit era.

As reported by GamesBeat, Atari has announced that the Delaware-based studio is the latest of its retro-based acquisitions.

Implicit Conversions is responsible for the Syrup Engine, an advanced emulation engine which brings 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit games to modern systems.

Its engine currently supports seven classic systems, the most notable being the Sony PlayStation (with PlayStation 2 support said to be coming soon).

As a result, Implicit Conversions has already worked alongside Atari subsidiary Digital Eclipse on Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection – where it worked on the three PS1 games in the compilation – as well as the Rayman 30th Anniversary Edition.

Atari acquired Digital Eclipse in 2023 in a deal worth up to $20 million. The studio mainly focuses on emulation of games from the 8-bit and 16-bit era, and specialises in its interactive museum timelines featured in many of its recent retro releases.

Before that, it had already acquired Nightdive Studios, which instead specialises in remastering polygonal games and making them playable again on older systems with enhanced resolutions and frame rates.

By acquiring Implicit Conversions, then, Atari will presumably hope the studio can cover the 32-bit ports (in particular PS1 games) that lie in between Digital Eclipse’s 8-bit and 16-bit expertise and Nightdive’s polygonal remasters.

“Implicit Conversions’ ability to work with 32-bit era games using their proprietary Syrup engine complements our existing expertise with 8 and 16-bit era games,” Atari CEO Wade Rosen said in a statement.

“Alongside the Bakesale Engine (Digital Eclipse) and the Kex Engine (Nightdive), we now have an enviable suite of proprietary tools, and more engineering talent that will enable us to continue to expand our capabilities across our own catalog as well as the back catalogs of our IP partners.”

In a separate statement on Implicit Conversions’ website, head of operations Bill Litshauer said: “Over the last year, we’ve worked with Atari through Digital Eclipse on the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Collection, Rayman, and more titles that we’ll be announcing later this year. As we described it to them, it was like we found long-lost cousins.

“We share the same passion for classic games – honouring the original versions, adding historical content / context, and preserving them for the future.”

He added: “One of the main reasons Atari was interested in our company was due to our PlayStation experience and our ongoing work with [PS1 emulator] Waffle.

“While we will likely expand our repertoire and assist with projects in the broader scope of Atari’s longterm vision, our primary focus remains with continuing to develop for Pancake (PS1), developing Waffle (PS2), and then setting our eyes to the future with Benedict (PS3).”

Digital Eclipse was VGC’s Developer of the Year 2024, stating: “It goes without saying that Digital Eclipse isn’t the only game in town when it comes to retro re-releases, but where it differs from others (particularly in the past few years) is its strong focus on supporting its content with context.”