The video game publisher responsible for such iconic titles as Pong, Space Invaders, Pacman, Asteroids and Frogger, Atari, hopes to recapture the legendary status it enjoyed in the 1970s and 80s by becoming an active participant, developer and digital landowner in the metaverse and other virtual worlds.
The gaming pioneer is making moves in the experiential virtual world space, embracing the burgeoning crypto sector, and has also created a blockchain division to leverage the synergies it sees between the gaming and cryptocurrency industries.
Atari has leased ‘plots of land’ within the virtual land and metaverse platform Decentraland’s Vegas City area and plans to build and open a virtual casino in Vegas City featuring Atari-themed games. Effectively, the company is evaluating the new digital waters to see how their branded Atari assets might be developed into a range of social and monetary metaverse opportunities.