Over the past several years, Atari has steadily been repositioning itself as a premier publisher of remastered games for modern platforms. Through subsidiaries like Nightdive Studios and Digital Eclipse, the company has put out revamped versions of games like Star Wars: Dark Forces, a compilation of the ‘90s Mortal Kombat games under the moniker Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection, and the 2002 video game adaptation of The Thing. At Summer Game Fest 2026, Atari was back in full force with a number of announcements and hands-on demos, several of which we got to try out for ourselves.

One of the most surprising announcements from Atari at SGF 2026 was that it is remastering Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee. Originally released for the GameCube in 2002, the game is a 3D sandbox fighter featuring a whole bevy of kaiju from across the King of the Monsters’ extensive cinematic history at that time. Players wreck entire cities around the world as they throw down in either single-player or multiplayer combat, unleashing each of the monsters’ signature attacks and abilities.

As someone who still has their Godzilla games for the GameCube, including Destroy All Monsters Melee, I found the remastered demo build to handle much more smoothly than I remembered. Taking on King Ghidorah in arcade mode as the classic Showa era Godzilla, muscle memory kicked in and I was able to maneuver around the city map, using buildings for cover before unleashing my own hand-to-hand combos and, of course, Godzilla’s iconic atomic breath. The remastered game looks great too, subtly upconverting the presentation for modern displays while retaining the character designs from the GameCube title.

The other major Atari announcement from SGF 2026, was that Nightdive Studios is remastering Thief: The Dark Project, the seminal PC stealth game from 1998. Relying heavily on sound and environmental mechanics, players control Garrett as they infiltrate various medieval settings and steal objects of varying value while evading the authorities in a given setting. There are multiple ways that players can proceed in a given level, sticking to the shadows to avoid detection, dousing torches to extend the darkness.

I got to play an early build of the remastered Thief: The Dark Project as well, plunged right back into the shadowy world of the game like it was 1998 all over again. Coming off playing the Alien: Isolation 2 demo, it struck me just how foundational the Thief series was for games like Alien: Isolation and Splinter Cell, particularly in regard to use of lighting and sound design as crucial elements in the gameplay. The game is just as difficult as I remember the original being too; I did not successfully complete the opening mission as part of my hands-on playthrough making me realize that I need to brush up my old skills.

Atari had other announcements coming out of SGF 2026, including a massive compilation of 16 retro Barbie video games and collections of Toy Story movie tie-in games, including the acclaimed tie-ins for Toy Story 3, though they were not available for me to play just yet. All of these remasters are set for releases throughout 2026, giving Atari a packed year and a clear sign of the company’s modern resurgence. True to the company’s ethos, these releases will receive physical editions for its modern console formats, in addition to the usual digital releases.

Simply put, Atari is putting out something for fans of all ages and interests in the months ahead as it solidifies its place in the much-needed drive for game preservation. This push is one undertaken by outside publishers like Limited Run Games and GOG in addition to in-house efforts by publishers including Capcom and Konami. But there is consistently something special whenever it’s an Atari brand handling a remaster project and that track record appears to be safely intact with the titles it unveiled at SGF 2026.

A big part of that is the Atari name and the familiar logo alone has become something that immediately evokes a classic era of retro gaming. Whereas Nintendo survived being pegged to a single time period, Atari’s initial heyday was in the ‘70s and ‘80s, even if the games that they’re currently remastering stretch years beyond their own console output. Atari has already revived its own history for modern audiences with the Atari 50 compilation and revamped versions of its Atari 2600 and 7800 consoles, now with connections for modern televisions.

With Thief: The Dark Project and Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, Atari is continuing to tap into the games that specifically informed my own proclivities in the medium decades ago. And the company’s commitment to physical releases not only feels on-brand, but a welcome alternative to the industry’s increasing push for digital-only titles. More than that, it just feels good knowing that Atari is back regularly putting out quality games rather than being conspicuously absent from the industry that it helped popularize.

— Sam Stone, Den of Geek contributor

Seeing what excellent work Atari has done in remastering several beloved gaming properties from yesteryear has naturally got us thinking about what other franchises we’d love to see remastered and re-released on modern platforms. For me, I’d love to see a collection of James Bond games dating at least as far back as 1992’s James Bond  007: The Duel through the end of the Electronic Arts era with 2005’s From Russia with Love. Licensing these games across past and current IP rights holders would be a nightmare but if anyone’s proved adept at navigating those waters, it’d be Atari, and they’d definitely have plenty of fan interest.

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