The original incarnation of Digital Eclipse was founded in Emeryville, California in 1992 by current CEO Andrew Ayre. In 1994, Digital Eclipse created a series of games for the Macintosh platform called Williams Digital Arcade, which were the first ever commercial game products to use emulation. Digital Eclipse continued to produce emulation-based classic game packages for various platforms, as well as many original titles for the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance.

‍

In 2003, Digital Eclipse merged with ImaginEngine to form Backbone Entertainment; in 2005, Backbone merged with The Collective to form Foundation 9 Entertainment, which at one point was the largest independent video game development studio in the world.

‍

In 2007, Andrew Ayre left Foundation 9 to form Other Ocean Interactive, and later re-acquired the rights to the Digital Eclipse name. Digital Eclipse was relaunched in 2015 as a studio dedicated to telling the stories of gaming history, preserving classic games, and keeping them alive for future generations.

‍

Starting with its first release, 2015's Mega Man Legacy Collection, the reborn Digital Eclipse has produced critically acclaimed releases of classic brands and franchises such as Street Fighter, Samurai Shodown, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Disney, and Atari. Digital Eclipse's game releases focus on capturing the artists' original intent, providing historical and archival material to place the games in their proper context, and enhancing the player experience in a variety of ways through the custom Eclipse Engine technology platform.

‍

After the success of Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, Atari acquired Digital Eclipse in late 2023. The development team continues to innovate from its Emeryville studio.

‍

Releases

‍

Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (Gold Master Series #02) (Digital Eclipse)
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (Digital Eclipse)
The Making of Karateka (Gold Master Series #01) (Digital Eclipse)
Digital Eclipse Arcade: Q.P.I.D. (Digital Eclipse)

Digital Eclipse Arcade: Jollyball (Digital Eclipse)

Digital Eclipse Arcade: Invasion of the Buffet Snatchers (Digital Eclipse)

Digital Eclipse Arcade: Candy Creeps (Digital Eclipse)

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration (Atari)

Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike and the Quest for Stale Gum (iam8bit)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection (Konami)

Disney Classic Games Collection (Nighthawk Interactive)

Space Jam: A New Legacy - The Game

Blizzard Arcade Collection (Blizzard)

Samurai Shodown NeoGeo Collection (SNK)

Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King (Nighthawk Interactive)

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection (NIS America)

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (Capcom)

The Disney Afternoon Collection (Capcom)

Mega Man Legacy Collection (Capcom)

‍

‍Awards & Recognition

‍

Winner, Best Remake / Remaster / Collection, Electric Playground Network Rocket & Raygun Awards 2023 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection)

‍

Winner, Outstanding Game, Classic Revival, NAVGTR Awards 2022 (Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration)

‍

#4 Best Switch Game of 2022, Metacritic (Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration)

‍

#9 Best Switch Game of 2023, Metacritic (The Making of Karateka)

‍

BAFTA's Best Games of 2023 (The Making of Karateka)

‍

Selected Articles

‍

Digital Eclipse is preserving classic games in the most entertaining way possible [The Verge]

‍

What Does It Take To Make the Criterion Collection of Video Games? [Gizmodo]

‍

All Hail Digital Eclipse [TheGamer]

‍

Is Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series the future of video game documentaries? [GI.biz]

‍

Team

‍

Andrew Ayre

Head of Business Development

‍

Mike Mika

Head of Studio

‍

Justin Bailey

Head of Publishing

‍

Tom Russo

Business Development Manager

‍

Stephen Frost

Head of Production

‍

Chris Kohler

Editorial Director

‍

Contact

‍

Press Inquiries: media@digitaleclipse.com

‍

Business Inquiries: business@digitaleclipse.com

what we do

about us

our mission

In 1994, the original incarnation of Digital Eclipse pioneered accurate video game re-releases, emulating vintage arcade games well before “emulation” was a household word. Nearly 30 years later, we remain dedicated to preserving gaming's heritage, telling the stories of gaming history through archival releases and interactive documentaries.

"what Does It Take to Make The Criterion Collection of Video Games?" [GiZMODO]

ORIGINAL GAME

ECLIPSE VERSION

ECLIPSE ENGINE

pc

PORTABLES

CONSOLES

FUTURE
PLATFORMS

THE ECLIPSE ENGINE

At the heart of Digital Eclipse's releases is our proprietary Eclipse Engine technology. Custom-built for this special purpose, Eclipse Engine allows us to integrate multiple software emulation processes, original programmed work, video, audio, archival documents and more into a single, seamless multimedia experience.

This tech allows our engineers to enhance and evolve classic gameplay, adding additional layers of functionality on top of a classic game. Online play, quality of life enhancements, or even deeper modifications can be added – all without disturbing the original work running underneath the enhancements.

Eclipse Engine: Technology designed for preserving, and enhancing, games for future generations.