GameSpot may receive revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and from purchases through links.

Ubisoft gets Driver's license

Atari agrees to sell most assets from Reflections to French publisher for $24 million; Ubi eager to get into racing game.

91 Comments

Cash-strapped Atari dumped one of its properties today, partially making good on its announcement that several of its holdings would be sold off. The rights to the Driver franchise were sold to fellow countrymen Ubisoft for 19 million euros ($24 million). The deal is expected to close during Ubisoft's second fiscal quarter, which ends September 30, 2006.

Also moving from Atari's banner to Ubisoft's are "most of the assets and all of the personnel" of Driver's developer, UK-based Reflections Interactive. Atari will retain the sell-off rights for a three-month period on all the Driver games except for Driver: Parallel Lines, the most recent chapter of the franchise, which it will hold until the end of 2006.

Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell said, "We are focusing the energy of the company on a select number of franchises in order to optimize their impact among consumers and increase shareholder value. In the driving category, we consider Test Drive our key franchise which will require more resources and attention to build it as a landmark of its genre."

Ubisoft was happy to get behind the wheel of Driver. "We are thrilled with this acquisition which will allow us to add a prestigious title to our catalog and to enter into the driving games segment, one of the most important segments in the gaming industry," said Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot.

It appears that Ubisoft is betting the Driver games still have some gas in the tank. Even with mediocre reviews, Driv3r sold well. Unfortunately for Atari, the same held true for the reviews of Driver: Parallel Lines, but not its sales.

Test Drive Unlimited, Atari's new ride, will be released later this year on multiple platforms. A movie based on the Driver franchise is currently being adapted into a film by Roger Avary.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Join the conversation
There are 91 comments about this story
91 Comments  RefreshSorted By 
  • 91 results
  • 1
  • 2
GameSpot has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to toxic conduct in comments. Any abusive, racist, sexist, threatening, bullying, vulgar, and otherwise objectionable behavior will result in moderation and/or account termination. Please keep your discussion civil.

Avatar image for SAEDSAED
SAEDSAED

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

ثنكس لك بس عطنااا ربط التحميل لو عليك امرر

Upvote • 
Avatar image for dillonshuffel
dillonshuffel

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Yea i think also they should remake Driver 1 and Driver 2 Cause i liked it I didn't like the Driver Parallel lines it doesn't have tanner . but i want to know if Tanner actually died In Driver 3 i know he got shot he went to the hospital. They like just ended it right there No more Tanner, Jerico, Jones... They Really need to make a new driver if so like Now were is Pink Lenny From Driver 2 and that one Black guy in driver 2 with the long hair

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Syphon_Filter2
Syphon_Filter2

215

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

Th first driver and the second one, were better then the new drivers.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Turisman4
Turisman4

563

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 0

I think a Driver 1 and 2 compilation with better graphics and draw distance while keeping the environment design and physics engine would be a game I'd be quickly willing to pay full price for.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for bam29
bam29

542

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 6

User Lists: 0

Im happy to see ubisoft get the license to the driver series. They are a good company and i hope they make the driver series good again.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for abdullrahman
abdullrahman

132

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

I like Driver games i never missd a game .

Upvote • 
Avatar image for games_pot1
games_pot1

2476

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 9

User Lists: 0

Good for them

Upvote • 
Avatar image for AliasUK
AliasUK

872

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

I've enjoyed all the Drivers to be honest, even PL. Driv3rs story mode was a bit wank but the free roam is superb. It's just a shame that it isn't as non linear a GTA. I still think Driv3r graphics are very good as well.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Tungsten88
Tungsten88

1121

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 9

User Lists: 0

Driv3r was pretty good actually (because I hadn't played GTA). I loved the free roam mode and though the glitches were pretty funny, but Driver 4 was the absolute worst game I've ever played.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for ultimate_zero
ultimate_zero

858

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

cool

Upvote • 
Avatar image for JL990096
JL990096

467

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 8

User Lists: 0

Despite the fact that 187 Ride or Die sucked (a car-combat game developed by Ubi soft), i think driver will not after Ubi-soft took over the driver series (just as soon as they don't get the wrong develop team)

Upvote • 
Avatar image for War-Tex
War-Tex

2014

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 0

2 be honest.....i always wait for driver games and it comes out 2 be.....BOOOGUUUSSS

Upvote • 
Avatar image for trialanderror61
trialanderror61

86

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

the original Driver is, was, and ever will be the best. I am proud to say on august 16 2006, 6 years and 2 months after the release date, i still play driver. Driver 2 sucked. they advertised the had CURVED roads. and didnt make it for pc. pc has so much more graphical capability than playstation sigh..

Upvote • 
Avatar image for willripyouanew1
willripyouanew1

500

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Hopefully it wont stink as bad as the last Driv3r did

Upvote • 
Avatar image for greatestali
greatestali

665

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

finally a driver game that would actually be fun to play thanku ubisoft

Upvote • 
Avatar image for ultimate_zero
ultimate_zero

858

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Ubisoft makes great games, so I'm guessing that the next driver's gonna be a masterpiece.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for mes258
mes258

25

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

The stories of all the driver series were great, too bad atari hasn't got a proper quality team. They still develop Driver in the ATARI 2600 style (or at least in win95 with bizarre min. requirements). I sure hope Ubi will raise the standard, and come up with a great story and stunning looks & gameplay.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Jrock7
Jrock7

1060

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

Atari is getting old. I will always like the company for the first game system, but they don't make good games anymore. Driver was one of the best for the original Playstation, but 3 sucked so much that it made me lose faith. Now that Atari doesn't have it anymore, I'm getting the next game nomatter what happens. Hopefully Ubi gets the series on top again.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Blazer88
Blazer88

2066

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 37

User Lists: 0

New Test Drive looks good, Driver was only ok at first and progressively got worse although because 3 sold well it just goes to show once again that thier are some gamers out there with horrible taste. Ubi might be able to fix it, but it is such a crowded genre that like FPS's it pretty much takes something spectacular for someone like me to even give it any thought.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for mariokart64fan
mariokart64fan

20828

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 101

User Lists: 1

driver was the best and still is when driver 5 comes on ps3 im getting it

Upvote • 
Avatar image for deactivated-57e5de5e137a4
deactivated-57e5de5e137a4

12929

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

Test Drive should do pretty good. It's not a whole lot of tune*and*tweak that is Need For Speed. It's just real cars racing. Should be good.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Gaara79
Gaara79

4476

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

The original driver was great, i hope UBI can make a good next gen game out of the franchise

Upvote • 
Avatar image for TVR_Fan
TVR_Fan

743

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 0

I think its good that Ubisoft have the Driver License, now they can finally bring back Driver to its true goodness guys.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for mr_pops238
mr_pops238

3980

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Atari sucks and they just lost there best franchise. Fission Mailed. +1 for ubisoft. Lets hope that ubi can actually make a good driver game and not the crap atari made. Test drive sucks, atari is on crack if they think that game is going to save them. The only thing keeping atari alive is the overrated DBZ games, which can only take them so far before people get sick of them.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Maquis_UK
Maquis_UK

989

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 0

Go Ubi !!! and givvus that Wii version eh Ubi..? we're still loving your work...!

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Robinvd
Robinvd

1341

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

Ubisoft is good. Right? We'll see ;-)

Upvote • 
Avatar image for fordies
fordies

5829

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

The driver series needed some new blood pumped into

Upvote • 
Avatar image for DrKill09
DrKill09

6238

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

Good to see that Driver is now owned by a somewhat compitent company.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for solidusScott
solidusScott

840

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

OH MY GOD! MAYBE WE WILL FINALLY GET A DRIVER GAME WORTH PLAYING!!!................. or not.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for comthitnuong
comthitnuong

10093

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

i guess a driver by ubi wont be that bad

Upvote • 
Avatar image for _Sam_
_Sam_

31483

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Hopefully they will do a good job

Upvote • 
Avatar image for sundown70
sundown70

634

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

ubisoft and EA are getting huge...they are buyin out all of these franchises i don't know if this is good or bad yet, but i do have a bad feeling about gaming companies with a lot of power

Upvote • 
Avatar image for smiley17O
smiley17O

1423

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

what a waste of money

Upvote • 
Avatar image for WolfSkill5544
WolfSkill5544

914

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

I believe that Ubisoft will make a great Driver game in the future.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Ponsardin
Ponsardin

4500

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

I hope Ubisoft won't frustate the designers from Reflections Interactive like Atari did.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Leick3
Leick3

190

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

Hopefully ubisoft can revive the driver series because the last game sucked

Upvote • 
Avatar image for ashuncc2
ashuncc2

886

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Ubisoft makes great games. It will be interesting to see where they take the Driver series.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for decebal
decebal

920

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 0

this will make a good comeback for Driver. Looking forward to it now.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Sandman100
Sandman100

470

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

Good for Ubisoft. Hopefully they can make Driver a popular franchise again, and bring new life to the series. It also good for Atari because they need money, and right now the Test Drive is a more promising franchise for them, and they believe it has more life than Driver.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for madnesspro
madnesspro

242

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

I hope this pushs driver in the right direction. I also hope they re-release DRIV3R and take out all the glitchs and then release a PC version of Parallel lines.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Sweendrix
Sweendrix

407

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 9

User Lists: 0

Atari is stupid. Atari makes outstanding games in genres that nobody seems to want (Mark Ecko's:Getting Up)...and they label their key and most important franchise Test Drive? A game that must compete with an overcrowded and competitive marketplace? If Atari wants to survive, they should create and revive the platformer. Yes, the platformer. It seems like they have almost dropped off of the planet and corporations think that gamers no longer want to play a good platformer.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for John_of_Fire
John_of_Fire

415

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

This could be a good match. I hope this works out. I always heard Driver games were good but not good enough.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for rynmls
rynmls

760

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 0

ubisoft will handle driver? then they must create a brand new game cause driver for the ps2 sucks...

Upvote • 
Avatar image for xSpitFire3x
xSpitFire3x

620

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 25

User Lists: 0

Driver is destined for crap... But then again look at the Crystal D did for Tomb Raider...there might be hope after all.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for blazealot420
blazealot420

1655

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Totally agree with you Xidus, alot of people fail to realize the original GTA came out on PC before the first Driver.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for serioustom
serioustom

324

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

yes this is real good news for driver's fans.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Drudaddy
Drudaddy

186

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

cool a gaming company that know's how to make a good game, hopefully they will bring that franchise back to life. because atari messed it up

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Xidus
Xidus

338

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

"GTA's basic features exists and are the way they are BECAUSE of Driver 2" how can you even say that the original gta for the computer and even the ones for ps1 had all the features of Driver 2 just werent up to snuff at all for graphical comparison hence the top down view and bad jumping animation. you cant say that driver made all the features in gta possible because they were already there just laying low really...

Upvote • 
Avatar image for Tomtomtom1990
Tomtomtom1990

1006

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

I love that headline. It works on so many levels.

Upvote • 
Avatar image for dude117
dude117

78

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Finally we'll get a Driver game we like again!! I can stop playing Driver 2!!

Upvote • 
  • 91 results
  • 1
  • 2