Yesterday,we shared the news of Atari purchasing the Wizardry IP, but things became unclear after that. Drecom put out a statement that Atari did not purchase the Wizardry IP and Trademark, and indeed the report noted that Wizardry 6,7, and 8 remained with Drecom.
Atari has now put out a new statement to clarify what the transaction actually affected.
Atari has acquired the full rights to the first five Wizardry games and the underlying [intellectual property] behind them, which are considered to be the formative Wizardry titles and universe with which most fans are familiar. Drecom owns the Wizardry trademark. Atari collaborated with Drecom on our remake of Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.
The underlying [intellectual property] is the collective Llylgamyn universe in which the first five games take place. This includes unique expressions and continuously named characters such as Werdna and Trebor, a constructed and unique spell language, the town of Llylgamyn itself, iconic items, distinctive and continuous monsters like the Creeping Coin, and unique components like the resurrection mechanic. All of these components are distinctive of the first five games and are incorporated into the IP which Atari now owns. This is wholly distinguished from the trademark, which is simply the word “Wizardry.”
The original Wizardry 1 to 5 and the later Wizardry 6 to 8 are distinct universes with different underlying rights ownership. So, while Drecom may own the Wizardry trademark and certain later-series rights, many of the characters, settings, lore elements, and other expressive components most closely associated by consumers with the original Wizardry games are separately owned by Atari.
Hopefully this resolves the matter.