Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Dev Sues Atari for Missing Royalties

Atari filed for bankruptcy in 2013, which was a huge bummer for everyone involved, but in the three years that have since passed, things have turned around for the grandpappy of the gaming industry. They’re making more money, expanding once more, and finding a bit of success in the world of PC gaming by shamelessly milking their recognizable IP until their teats look like crushed raisins. Well, with Atari making money again, Frontier, developer of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, noticed something quite unpleasant: they weren’t.

And now, they’re suing Atari to the tune of $2.2 million for unpaid royalties they were supposed to receive from their games sales, which was, according to them, withheld by Atari. According to Frontier chief operating officer David Walsh:

"We can confirm Frontier is currently pursuing a complaint against Atari. We have attempted to resolve this issue without legal action since April 2016. We have so far been denied our contractual right to audit by Atari, and we are unfortunately left with no other way to resolve our concerns. We are unable to offer any further comment while the matter is subject to due legal process."

To their credit, they’re only suing for as much as they feel they’re owed: of the $3.37 million USD they were supposed to earn from the game, they only got $1.17, so the $2.2 million number wasn’t chosen randomly. If anything, they stand to continue making less money thanks to legal fees, so… good on them, I guess?

Still. This seems like the kind of thing Atari would do, in its current state. It’ll be a long time before this case is resolved, but I’ll try to keep ya’ll posted in the meantime. And here’s hoping it gives Atari the wake-up slap it seems to desperately need.

I still haven’t forgiven it for the latest Alone in the Dark.