Is it that point already? Atari, no matter that identify truly means, is as soon as once more saying it’s having a monetary wobble. You possibly can set your watch by how often this happens. Who might have thought that launching a console nobody needed, whereas investing in crypto grifts, wasn’t the trail to riches for a flailing firm with nothing up its sleeve however a once-respected model identify?
Atari died in 1984. Ever since, its cursed pores and skin has been loosely and uncomfortably wriggled into by a sequence of corporations, every falling to its bedeviled blight, solely freed when it tips one other company into donning the rotting skin-suit. Even the model of the corporate that launched the Atari ST within the mid-80s was the results of monetary collapses, divisions, rebrandings, and part-ownership by many companies. Its historical past of being purchased and offered is bewildering, the identify being variously owned by Namco, Warner, Mitsubishi, JTS Corp, WMS Industries, Hasbro Interactive, and Infogrames. This ship of Theseus has been sinking for many years.
The newest firm ghoulishly pretending to be Atari is sort of inconceivable to establish, however form of started as a rebranding of Infogrames, virtually getting purchased by Namco Bandai, at one level using a reported whole of 10 folks, earlier than going by way of one more chapter, an try at being a on line casino video games firm, and not too long ago, the embarrassing mess that’s the Atari VCS: a console it appears only a few need. After which it found crypto.
The (trendy) VCS was supposed to be this retro love-in, a PC-based console produced by that identify you keep in mind your dad loving within the early ‘80s, styled to appear like it time-traveled from the Reagan years. Elevating funds through IndieGoGo, the clearly doomed venture someway pulled in over $3 million from backers, though this considerably fell in need of its deranged goal of $100m. It then lastly got here out in 2020, after a number of delays, simply after the PS5 and Xbox Collection X, paling compared to each. In line with monetary experiences launched this week, it’s…not gone too properly.
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As Tom’s {Hardware} seen, the half-year earnings present that whereas 2021’s equal {hardware} income was $4.65 million, this 12 months’s had been solely $212,466. That’s a whopping 92 p.c drop, and the report itself identifies the issue as “underperformance by the VCS.”
Consequently, no matter Atari truly is in the meanwhile says it has devoted the primary half of the monetary 12 months to the (deep breath) “reorganization of the {Hardware} line of enterprise which incorporates the suspension of direct {hardware} manufacturing relationships, notably close to the Atari VCS, for which a brand new industrial technique has been applied as of the tip of the calendar 12 months 2022 and that may proceed in calendar 12 months 2023.” I hope nobody needed to learn that sentence out loud.
Nonetheless, Atari will not be abandoning the console no little one ever wrote to Santa for. The report continues, “In parallel, Atari is contemplating growing new {hardware} complementary to the Atari VCS with companions below licensing contracts.” It additionally insisted to Tom’s {Hardware} that “Atari stays dedicated to the VCS platform,” explaining extra help for builders has been added, extra outdated video games included, and the intention to “develop the VCS ecosystem and create extra utility for customers.”
You recognize what else it’s remaining devoted to? Crypto bullshit! The report boldly declares that “the primary half of the interval was primarily targeted on laying the muse of Atari X which included collaborations and partnerships with Web3 companions in addition to the implementation of NFT gross sales that had been profitable, regardless of unfavorable market circumstances for blockchain-related actions.”
Is Atari X the identical because the Atari Token, the corporate’s 2020 crypto nonsense? I simply couldn’t care much less, however have nonetheless found it’s not. The corporate launched the Token in partnership with the ICICB Group, a company it’s simply introduced it’s finished with. This week’s report mentions “licensing contracts that by no means materialized” close to ICICB, saying that every one licensing agreements between the 2 had been “terminated efficient April 18, 2022,” writing off €11m ($11.6m) from its accounting information. The part provides, “Atari introduced its intent to create a brand new token with a give attention to gaming, group, and utility.”
In case you’re questioning what ICICB is, so am I, and that’s after studying the corporate’s “About” web page. I swear that is actual and never a spoof I wrote:
Primarily based on an general technique for worth creation from group integration and the appliance of “choice and focus” checks to companies in addition to synergy creation from integrating enterprise administration capabilities, and revolutionary instruments & know-how, the ICICB Group demonstrates important progress within the banking and monetary sector.
So sure, after the roaring success of Atari Token, Atari “reaffirms its dedication to blockchain enterprise” by launching Atari X as an alternative, including that this additionally proves its “perception that blockchain could possibly be an vital factor of Atari’s enterprise and technique.”
“May very well be”!
As Eurogamer provides, all this dedication and dedication has resulted in Atari reporting “a liquidity shortfall and extra financing necessities.” In different phrases, it wants extra money. Not surprisingly, given an general lack of €5.4 million ($5.7m), considerably worse than final 12 months’s lack of €3.5 million ($3.7m).
We’ve reached out to Atari to ask if it’s nonetheless tied up in Atari Token, and why it’s planning to proceed to spend money on the VCS after its apparent flop. We additionally requested if its lodge ventures with ICICB are nonetheless going forward following that break up, as a result of, yup, it was constructing inns. We’ll replace if we hear again.
With a bit of luck, 2023 would be the 12 months that attempting to depend on nostalgia for the video games of 40 years in the past and investing in crypto will lastly repay for Atari!