Atari Creates Blockchain Division
- The legendary video game maker has split its operations into two new divisions, Atari Gaming and Atari Blockchain.
- The new blockchain division will focus on leveraging blockchain technology for decentralized gaming, and pushing the use of the ATRI token for in-game purchases.
The historical Atari 2600 Video Computer System running at 1.19 MHz with 128 bytes rom. Shutterstock
Video game developer Atari is creating a new blockchain division, that will use the technology to create new games and further the use of the ATRI token, the company said in a press release on 6 April.
According to the announcement, Atari will be splitting its operation in two separate divisions, Atari Blockchain and Atari Gaming, and will undergo an organizational shuffle. The current CEO of Atari, Frédéric Chesnais, will head the new blockchain division, while Wade J. Rosen will be moving up as the CEO of the entire Atari Group from his previous position of chairman of the board of directors.
Atari Gaming will focus its efforts on continuing the development work of Atari’s retro gaming titles, as well as new development of console and PC games. The blockchain division, on the other hand, will capitalize on blockchain technology to develop new games, and expand the use of the ATRI token as a payment method for digital purchases on the Atari Virtual Computer System (VCS) and other third party platforms.
The blockchain division will also explore new opportunities in the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) market, as it has seen a “tremendous amount of success in licensing the Atari-related brands for the use in NFTs”. The gaming company has been able to gather around 47 ETH through an auction of its “Atari Capsule Collection” NFTs, which were created in partnership with digital collectibles market Quidd.
The gaming company has been eyeing the blockchain and crypto spaces since 2018, when it announced plans to create its own digital token. The company followed through on its plans in November 2020, when it began selling its ATRI token on the Bitcoin.com exchange at $0.25 a piece.
Back in March, the company also provided the license to its branding to Decentral Games, which decided to launch a cryptocurrency-based casino on the blockchain-based virtual reality platform Decentraland. The so called Atari Casino will feature a number of Atari-themed games, including games of luck and games combining skill and luck.
- Players will be able to spend MANA, as well as DAI and the Atari Token (ATRI), to play games and earn Decentral Games native token DG.
- The Atari Casino will provide 88% of its profits to the dgTreasury, allowing Decentral Games to continue developing new features.
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- The game developer hopes to make its ATRI token more scalable through Polygon’s Layer 2 solution, which is interoperable with Ethereum via the Polygon bridge.
- Atari further plans to launch an NFT minter on Polygon, enabling all developers to issue their own NFT tokens.
- ATRI’s initial live trading price is revolving around the IEO price, providing an opportunity for people who didn’t pass KYC to purchase the tokens.
- The IEO lasted slightly more than 24 hours before reaching its hard cap of $1,000,000.