Is Protector on Steam?

No. Protector is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.

What platforms is Protector on?

Protector is available on Atari Jaguar.

When did Protector release?

Protector was first released on December 20, 1999.

Protector

Dec 20, 1999ShooterAtari Jaguar

Protector — frequently asked questions

Is Protector on Steam?: No. Protector is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
What platforms is Protector on?: Protector is available on Atari Jaguar.
When did Protector release?: Protector was first released on December 20, 1999.

Game details

Platforms: Atari Jaguar
Publisher: Songbird Productions
Themes: Science fiction

Details via IGDB.

Collector value & authenticity

Atari Jaguar · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-07-24

Loose

$59

Complete

$100

Sealed

$200

Region: WW
Released: 1999
Authenticity: Low

Never re-released — the original cartridge is the only way to playLow counterfeit risk

Atari Jaguar prices, all games & how to spot a fake

Bethesda Softworks made an Atari Jaguar game, Todd Howard produced it, and Atari refused to ship it. It came out anyway.

Danish developer Jørgen Bech built a Defender-style shooter at Bethesda, produced by Christopher Weaver and Todd Howard. Atari declined it — Jeff Minter's Defender 2000 was in development and they wouldn't publish a competitor — so Bethesda shelved it. Carl Forhan found Bech on Usenet, licensed the game from Bethesda, and when Hasbro opened the platform in 1999, finished and published it through Songbird — then built Songbird into the Jaguar's most important post-commercial publisher. By several accounts, the game Atari blocked is the better Defender.

Protector SE (2002) has a functional use most listings never mention: it contains CD-bypass routines that boot older unsigned Jaguar CD homebrew on unmodified hardware — a tool, not just a game, with real demand from a second audience.

Cartridge & preservation record

Cartridge ROM capacity 16 megabit (2 MB), measured from the preserved cartridge image.

Catalogue part number CF3004

Cartridge data from the No-Intro preservation database (metadata only — names, sizes and checksums, no game data).

Worth knowing

Todd Howard produced a Jaguar game Atari refused to publish. Danish developer Jørgen Bech designed it at Bethesda Softworks, produced by Christopher Weaver and Todd Howard — the same Todd Howard who went on to direct Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Skyrim. Atari would not publish it, because it was a Defender-like shooter and Atari already had Jeff Minter making Defender 2000. Bethesda cancelled the project as the Jaguar declined.
It was rescued from a Usenet post. After Atari dropped the platform, programmer Carl Forhan tracked Jørgen Bech down on a Usenet forum, licensed the game from Bethesda, and published it through Songbird Productions on 20 December 1999 — years after the console's death. A Special Edition followed in 2002 and an expansion, Resurgence, as late as 2014. Almost nothing else in this library was saved by one person finding the author on a newsgroup.

Before you buy

Three distinct releases — Protector (1999), Protector SE (2002), and Protector: Resurgence (2014) — and sellers conflate them constantly, with real price differences. Verify which you're buying against Songbird's own product photography; some SE copies also shipped with a bonus Native demo CD. Restocks have occurred — check current availability before paying secondary prices.

Authenticity & condition — Atari Jaguar

Specific to the format this title shipped in

Buying a Jaguar cartridge

Cartridges are the durable half of this library — the risk is provenance, not decay. The platform has an active post-commercial scene, so the question is usually which era a cartridge is from rather than whether it still works.

Ask for a photo of the label edge and the cartridge back. Reproductions are usually printed on adhesive photo stock and sit proud of the label recess.
Donor shells are the common trick: sanding marks on the back, or adhesive ghosting where an older label was lifted, are the strongest signals.
Cartridges are region-free on this platform, so a cheaper PAL copy plays on a North American console — a price difference is not evidence of a fake.