Atari has announced that they’ve acquired the Surgeon Simulator franchise under its Infogrames label. The press release suggests that this was done through an agreement with publisher TinyBuild rather than the original developer, Bossa Studios. TinyBuild purchased the IP in 2022.

The original Surgeon Simulator made a sizeable splash when it was released in 2013. Similar to Octodad or QWOP, it focuses on the humorous mishap??s that happen when an over-detailed and inaccurate physics simulation is applied to a concept that requires fine motor skills. It wound up inspiring a?? wave of similar “simulator�concepts in the indie sphere.

This was followed in 2020 by Surgeon Simulator 2, which doesn’t seem to have been as popular with players. It focuses on multiplay?er and has a campaign�I didn’t play it, if it’s not obvious. Having a multiplayer focus is a quick way to get me to skip over a game.

I did, however, play the original back when it was still called Surgeon Simulator 2013. It’s not really surprising to me that a sequel wasn’t as well received. The central concept is a lot of fun, and it’s still for a while, but it’s very one-dimensional??. The joke is only funny for so long. I tried replaying it later and found that I was too adept at it for it to actually be entertaining anymore.

On that note, I’m not sure what Atari/Infogrames plans to do with it. It’s rather similar to their purchase of Totally Reliable Delivery Service, which had also been published by TinyBuild. The press release says, “Infogrames will seek to expand distribution, potentially develop new titles or content, and explore brand and merchandising collaborations as part of a long-term plan to preserve and expand the franchise.�/p>

Okay. I guess we’ll potentia??lly see more titles or t-shirts.

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Russian studio Konfa Games also acquired

American Publisher tinyBuild Inc, following a particularly expensive morning, has announced that it has acquired several IPs from indie studio Bossa Games. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the memeriffic "comedy physics" titles Surgeon Simulator, I am Bread, and I am Fish were purchased by tinyBuild for an "up?front payment" of $3 million USD.

Following the closure of this purchase, tinyBuild will now manage developmental control of all three titles, while Bossa Studios will move on to new projects. Despite the relative simplicity of the games, the former Bossa franchises have raked in millions of dollars in revenue since their respective release?s.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6COQHqc4LE

"Since early 2022, Bossa has been focused exclusively in the genre of co-op PvE. We have been prototyping a lot, and now find ourselves in full production of titles we are pouring our hearts and souls into," writes Bossa co-founder Henrique Olifiers of the company's future??. "This brought us to the question of how best to take care of our legacy, our existing games, and how to ensure they have a future of their own."

"Together with TinyBuild, we found a path that allows Bossa to dedicate its full attention to its new projects, while ensuring Surgeon Simulator, I Am Bread and I Am Fish have a new home that understands what makes these games ??tick as well as we do."

In addition to the Bossa IP acquisition, tinyBuild also announced that it has purchased independent Russian studio Konfa Games for $5.4 million. It is reported that the Konfa team will now relocate to tinyBuild's Serbian headquarters, where it will continue development on its current projects, including the cartoonish roguelike Despot's Game: Dystopian Army Builder, which is available now on PC.

TinyBuild acquires Bossa Studios IPs for $3m [GamesIndustry.biz]

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Surgeon Simulator DLC

You know what's fucked up? We're about to have some old-ass, Crypt-Keeper-ass, shriveled-up-dick-or-pussy-having president. Donald Trump is 69 (nice) and Hilary Cli??nton is 68, almost 69 (almost nice).

Monstrous-ass Ronnie Reagan, who was long the butt of jokes about being one old-ass gipper who fell asleep during work more than your grandfather at a wedding, was 69 when he was inaugurated president (one month shy of 70). If elected, Clinton will be 69 years and 3 months when she's inaugurated. Trump would be 70 years and 6 months -- the oldest president ever. These are some frail,?? near-death corpses we're about to stick in the oval office, which is about the only solace we have left this election.

Of course, the about-Mass-Effect-tweeting Trump got a clearly-not-ghost-written doctor's note that says he, "will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." Well, not if y'all keep bot??ching?? his heart surgery.

Inside Donald Trump is the latest DLC for ancient (three years ago) surprise hit Surgeon Simulator, a game?? as much about surgery as me poun??ding both cheeks on keys is about playing Mozart.

"In Inside Donald Trump, players must perform heart surgery on the most talked-about man on the planet and decide if he is a gold hearted hero or a stone hearted villain." This involves sticking one or the other in his chest hole, though early statistics have shown that only about 17,000 of 80,000 attempted surgeries have been successful (22%). You can decide if that's people failing at Surgeon Simulator flailing or people jumping at the chance to let ?the weave-wearing, "short-fingered vulgarian" flat line on the table. Of the successfully completed surgeries, 40% are gold hearts, 60% stone hearts. The?? DLC includes "new 'medical' items, such as Trump Vodka, Trump Steak and Trump Tower."

RIP Bossa Studios, you are going to be sued into the ground, un??less you luck out and get a Mexican judge.

The post Only 22% of Donald Trump’s heart surgeries have been succesful appeared first on Destructoid.

Up high! Down low! ...Alien?

Surgeon Simulator is the type of game that easily lends itself to stories. The precise mechanics involved provide anecdotes wherein each player can fondly recall specific moments of their playthrough. Though my time as a surgeon ha?s been limit??ed and feels as though it was eons ago, I still remember my first transplant in vivid detail.

When thinking of the various experiences that might be improved with VR, Surgeon Simulator never crossed my mind. Being able to look at my various tools and around the room with a turn of my head didn't seem necessary. I was wrong. Wear?ing an ?Oculus Rift and standing next to an unconscious patient with scalpel in hand makes this feel even more personal.

The Oculus Connect 2 event felt very rushed, so I hurried to my demo appointment for some hands-on time with the Rift. A Hollywood-looking Oculus employee charmingly asked what type of genre I wanted to start with. "Horror," I quickly blurted out, anxiously wanting to experience some spooky VR. He looked taken aback, and quietly said "Well, we don't -- well, I guess aliens are scary..." and booted up Surgeon Simulator. It's not what I would ha??ve p??icked, but I went with it anyway.

After fitting the headset onto my noggin and the Oculus Touch controllers onto my meathooks, I opened my eyes and found myself aboard a space station. There was a??n extraterrestrial splayed out on a table, its midsection an open maw hungry for my hands and tools. Beyond the corpse was a window peering out into the void of space. Glancing about the room, I took sto??ck of what surgical instruments I would require. I needed to remove an explosive, glowing orb from the alien's stomach before it destroyed the station.

As I used my real-life hands to direct their in-game counterparts towards my first tool, Hollywood began recommending I grab the bonesaw. I turned my head in his general direction (remember there was a whole reality between him and I) and told him "Quiet, nurse. I am the doctor now." I heard a combination of a grunt and a giggle and continued on my way.?? I grabbed a ha??tchet and began cutting into the alien. Again, he protested and I cut him off with a "Shhh..."

I let go of the hatchet and realized I was in a zero-g environment. It casually drifted away from me as I turned to my next tool, a four-pointed device that looked like a shuriken. With all my might, I flung it into the alien's stomach(?) and watched as it began ricocheting off of the various surfaces in the room. Glass was now floating all around me, but I waved it away in annoyance. Next, I grabbed a clock and started smashing it into the alien just to see ??what would happen. All that happened was a mess that I told Nurse Hollywood to clean up when we were done.

Time was beginning to run short, and I begrudgingly reached for the bonesaw. I hacked into the ribcage-looking protusion and used both hands to grab the orb, and chucked it out the garbage shoot. It drifted outside the window and exploded non-chalantly. ?To celebrate, I grabbed my alien friend's cold (I assume) dead hand with my left hand, and gave him a high five with the right. His hand drifted back slowly and without purpose, and Nurse Hollywood, sounding quite afraid, whispered "What just happened? Did you just..." And I nodded triumphantly. I took off the headset and handed it back to the wide-eyed man who wasn't sure what he had just watched.

The combination of the Oculus Rift and Touch lent Surgeon Simulator more presence, and it helped me role-play (something I don't really do outside of D&D) even with a stranger staring at me the whole time. Something about shutting out the rest of the world makes you feel more involved, though it's tough to ignore outside factors. That's why Nurse Hollywood became one of my surgical instruments; if I was going to look ridiculous in front of him, he was going to be part of it, dammit. 

The post I used the Oculus Rift to? high-five?? a dead alien in Surgeon Simulator appeared first on Destructoid.

Pain comes in lots of different languages

The iPad version of Surgeon Simulator launched last month, much to the chagrin of patients ev?erywhere, and it's now received its first major update with 13 new languages and more free content? in the near future featuring an alien patient to completely wreck, er, operate on.

Poor ??Bob is now available to fans who speak German, Italian, Spanish, French, and eight other languages to spread the gospel that malpractice is the same all over the world, no matter what you speak. Also, I really love that creepy close-up I found. It really sells the game for me. I like to imagine he's singing about his organs flopping around, in a style similar to that of Freddie Mercury.

Nab Surgeon Simulator for $5.99 now on the App Store, and stay tuned for th??e extra-terre?strial DLC update soon.

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Bring out your inner psychopath

Bossa Studios has another quick clip from the upcoming mobile version of Surgeon Simulator following that teaser for dental operations.

Apparently people have also been asking for eye surgeries, the maniacs. I love me some gory horror movies, but anything involving eye mutilation elicits a huge "NOPE!" from me. Although this video did remind me of that one scene in Total Recall, so that's a plus.

The development team p?osted on YouTube that this is a "brand new game" meant for touch screens and that it hasn't abandoned PC players. "If people like the new game (because it IS a new game), we may consider bringing the operations to PC (and Mac, and Linux), so....I guess we're just saying -- we haven't forgotten about all of you ??who have the first game."

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Perform a Gobbleshaft transplant

The Surgeon Simulator 2013 has come through for us all. There was another alternate-reality game hidden inside of this hilarious title from Bossa that sounded like a real headache to solve -- but it's been figured out, thankfully, and the reward ?for doing so is pretty great.

YouTuber MattShea369 walks through the process. To dive into the new surgery, start by going to the the brain transplant operation in space. There's a keypad on the right -- enter the code "296145." You'll return back at the office with a new VHS tape that has alien symbols. Toss that into the player to sta?rt operating on an alien. Quick question: What's a Gavichal?

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People really, really want Half-Life 3

Yesterday, word got out about a peculiar clue hidden underneath a statue in Surgeon Simulator 2013. This was part of the update that brought Team Fortress 2's Medic and Heavy to the game and, knowing Valve's history with alternate-reality games and tea?ming up with external studios, it seemed possible that another mystery was waiting to be cracked.

That last part ended up being true -- "So, we hear there's some puzzle you're trying to figure out..." tweeted developer Bossa Studios -- though it had nothing to do with Valve games, as the company later clarified once this situation started getting out of hand. When the mere hint of Half-Life 3 news is present, the internet comes together to work its magic.

Even if this puzzle ends up being a disappointment, as an outsider, I must say that this has been entertaining to watch. There's speculation that this cou??ld still be related to the Steam summer sale; sounds like we'll find out one way or another on Saturday.

There's K?orean writing in Surgery Simulator...and has not?hing to do with Half-Life. [NeoGAF via PC Gamer]

The post Surgeon Simulator 2013 ARG isn’t related to Half-Life 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

And probably super tasty

The guys behind Surgeon Simulator 2013 had a special cake made to celebrate the game's success. It's themed? after what you do in the game, and well, it's pretty damn gross. So gross that I put it below the fold in case you're a big baby that can't handle gross looking things.

Baby.

My mates brother was one of the makers of the surgeon sim, they had this cake made?? to celebrate it's success [Reddit]

The post This Surgeon Simulator cake is super gross appeared first on Destructoid.

Surgical hammer smashing

People have complained that Surgeon Simulator 2013 is almost unplayable thanks to its fun-but-impregnable controls. This is not actually true. The recent Greenlight release is actually pr??etty simple once you learn a few medical tricks and put them into practi??ce. 

Let my new little waste of time, Super Best Guide!, teach you how to perform adequate heart surge??ry and be hailed a surgical god. 

I am neve??r gonna properly review this blo??ody thing.

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Tonight's the night ...

Well ... not quite. 

A proper review will co??me ... if I can stop messing around long enough to cle?ar at least the first surgery.

The post My review of Surgeon Simulator 2013 appeared first on Destructoid.