Atari ‘Hotels of the Future’ Could Hit Australia Soon with Crypto Token Video Game Arcades

Atari has announced that it wants to bring its ambitious Atari Hotels to Australia and New Zealand, as well as perform a strategy shift towards making premium games again.

Atari, the first big name in the video game industry, was vanquished by Nintendo and Sega in the console wars of the 1980s. Atari became less relevant in the console market but kept making games. It also pursued other business ventures in later decades, including casinos, TV shows and blockchain technology.

In 2020, Atari announced it would also be entering the premium accommodation business, with plans to build a number of Atari Hotels across the US, the first of which was slated for Phoenix, Arizona.

Atari hopes its hotels will become an entertainment and gaming mecca, where people will come from all over the world to immerse themselves in an “all-in-one luxurious and entertaining experience”.

Atari hotels will […] immerse visitors into the video game universe and the Atari brand. The hotels will feature Atari gaming playgrounds, several function rooms, co-working areas, fine restaurants and bars, a bakery, a movie theatre [and] gym.

Atari Press Release

In March this year, Atari announced it was planning on bringing its ambitious hotels to other parts of the world, including Australia and New Zealand.

Atari Token (ATRI) Powered Arcades

The Atari Hotels will also accept its own Atari Token (ATRI) for use on the premises. The exact details of what the token will be used for are unclear, but Atari said it would include “loyalty programs and exclusive VIP experiences”. It makes sense that they might also function as digital arcade tokens that allow you to play your favourite games in the Atari “gaming playgrounds”.

Atari won’t be the first hotel group in the US to accept cryptocurrencies on the premises. Kessler Collection Hotels recently announced it too would be accepting payment in crypto.

Atari Wants To Make “Premium Games” Again

In an exciting turn for retro and modern gamers alike, Atari also announced earlier this year, its intention to abandon its free-to-play and mobile game strategy to focus once again on creating premium games for PC and its own Atari VCS console (released to Indigogo backers last year and to the public in June).

Atari said that “the first titles are currently in development and the first releases are planned for the financial year 2021/22”. Historically, Artari’s most popular video games have been Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong and Asteroids.