Atari Inc., a pioneer of video games, filed for chapter 11 in January, saying that it wanted to sell its portfolio of more than 200 video games to a highest bidder, but it is looking like most creditors will only recoup a fraction what they are owed, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. After it reached out to more than 180 potential purchasers from the videogame and financial worlds, Atari received only 15 preliminary bids. None of those offers were deemed "acceptable" by the company, so it decided to sell off its assets in pieces. A July auction fetched Atari a total of $5.1 million for its "Humongous," "Total Annihilation" and other smaller franchises. The company failed to sell the intellectual property related to its Atari name as well as its valuable "Rollercoaster Tycoon" and "Test Drive" franchises. It had hoped to get at least $20 million for those assets. Under its bankruptcy exit proposal, Atari will pay off a $3.8 million bankruptcy loan to lender Alden Global Capital. Atari will use any remaining money to pay up to $560,000 to unsecured creditors when it leaves bankruptcy, another $560,000 a year after that and $630,000 the following year, the company said in court filings.
