Atari wants to play a new game as it guns to regain relevance. The gaming icon is launching two new cryptocurrencies called the Atari Token and Pong Token.
The company, now Paris-based and officially known as Atari SA, is placing its bet on the rising but risky Bitcoin business. It appears too that Atari's cryptocurrency roadmap is linked with the plan to establish a digital entertainment platform, where the Atari Token is expected to be used.
The Pong Token, on the other hand, will be deployed as digital currency for online casinos. The juicy details of the company's plan have been withheld for now, but according to Atari CEO Frédéric Chesnais, further announcements will be made soon.
Chesnais, however, hinted that "we have the opportunity to position ourselves attractively in this sector."
"Blockchain technology is poised to take a very important place in our environment and to transform, if not revolutionize, the current economic ecosystem, especially in the areas of the video game industry and online transactions," the executive said in a statement.
Atari Collaborators
The company's push into the Bitcoin arena will be made easier by partnering with established players in the digital entertainment and online casino platforms. For its entry to internet-based gaming, Atari sealed a deal with Pariplay Ltd., purportedly for exclusive use of the former's new digital money.
In addition, Atari has tapped a company named Infinity Networks for licensing and brand-use agreements that will see the company's iconic brand on various digital entertainment products. Atari is looking to generate revenues and royalty fees from the tie-up.
Under the agreement, Infinity Networks will build Atari's blockchain-based platform that will carry the brand name on multiple ventures such as video games, movies, and music.
This early, Atari's entry to the cryptocurrency sector has apparently tickled the interest of investors. Since the company made known that Bitcoin will be its next growth-area of target, Atari shares registered an average increase of 60 percent.
Reliving The Old Glory
If Chesnais will hit the gold mine for Atari this time, the company could break a new path to regained prominence that was last seen with the introduction of arcade and video games in the 1970s through the 1980s. Atari then was synonymous to legendary and hit game titles such as Pong, Space Invader, and Breakout but soon faded away from consciousness as better technology and more efficient players started to emerge.
The turnaround plan plotted by Chesnais for Atari appears to be closely watched, but the company remains mum on when exactly the new Atari-branded Bitcoins will debut.