Atari’s glory days, when the 2600 was the hottest video game console in the western world, are far behind them. As the company has stayed alive for decades by publishing the odd popular game here and there, the company announced in 2019 that it would shift to gambling. Now, we find out they want to “launch a casino using cryptocurrencies.”
In a March 10 press release, Atari announced three new initiatives: “A music game based on the catalogue of the world renowned artist AVICII [R.I.P.], an agreement to launch the Atari Token and a casino for crypto-currencies.”
The Atari Token will have an initial coin offering (ICO) starting this month, with private sales right up until September 30, 2020, when a public sale will be offered. The plan is to then use that token as a currency for their online casino, which should launch around that date.
The details of the casino website itself are pretty general at this point. They wrote:
“The objective is to offer casino platforms that allow players to bet with most crypto-currencies. The launch of these casino platforms offering gaming options using crypto-currencies has always been the preferred option for the Group, and this since 2018.
“As the Atari Group has recovered all its rights, a non-exclusive license was granted to the ICICB Group to launch a casino using crypto-currencies. This casino website will, in due course, offer the most popular games, including Atari games, and the detailed terms will be announced at launch before September 30, 2020.”
Atari and their partner, ICICB group, will split the profits of the site 50/50.
So what kind of exciting games can customers expect to find on an Atari online casino? Only the brands most relevant with the youth of today, of course! Rollercoaster Tycoon, Missile Command, Asteroids and Centipede still belong to the company’s portfolio. I asked my younger brother-in-law about these games, and he knew one of them, maybe? He didn’t look sure.
Maybe the market is ready for some retro games on an online platform, driven by digital assets. But it will depend entirely on how Atari’s token is designed. If they intend to tokenize on the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain, unlimited scaling will allow them to have minimal transaction costs, and no bottlenecks for their transactions and data. It’s the best technology for the purpose of online gaming and enterprise usage.
However, they’re announcement of an ICO indicates they are likely going a different path. All other publically available blockchains have shown heavy congestion with any real use, promising that if Atari uses them, they won’t be able to handle much action. Even if Missile Command sees a resurgence in popularity for the 2020 holiday season, Atari won’t be able to handle the customers wanting to gamble on it.
