Widely known and hugely successful video game company the Atari Group has announced its goal to issue its first initial coin offering (ICO) which will be primarily aimed at launching a cryptocurrency casino in the foreseeable future.
Going back to the roots, Atari was founded back in 1972 in California, USA. However, the ownership of the company was changed multiple times throughout its existence. Currently, the company belongs to Atari Interactive which is a subsidiary of Atari, SA. The company’s currency market cap is just under $50 million on NYSE Euronext Paris.
Cointelegraph News
In 2018, the Group had granted an Atari brand license to Infinity Networks, Ltd (“INL”), to develop a blockchain project combining, on the one hand, the creation of a crypto-currency (Atari Token) and, on the other hand, the creation of a decentralized platform giving access to all forms of digital entertainment, a very broad offer ranging from video games to films and music.
But due to lack of a huge success, the company itself and INL got to a mutual agreement of terminating the partnership. After recovering from the separation, Atari Group decided to divide its Blockchain initiative into two separate projects.
In order to issue its own crypto and do it right, the company resorted to the assistance of another organization:
In partnership with the ICICB Group in successive steps through private placements starting as early as March 2020 with a public sale by September 30, 2020. Atari is also working on the liquidity of the Atari Token by facilitating the registration of this token on the main exchange platforms. The terms of the Atari Token will be announced at the time of the launch, the Atari Group being entitled to 35% of the proceeds from the sale of the Atari Token.
Also, together with Pong, Atari will issue Pong Token:
The Group is currently developing another digital currency (Pong Token) as part of its operator license in Kenya, for local applications.
Frédéric Chesnais, CEO of Atari, SA, once commented:
The area of blockchain and cryptocurrencies is of significant interest to us, especially in the domains of the video game industry and of online payments.
The Atari Group is entitled to 50% of the net gaming revenues (amounts wagered minus winnings), and the ICICB Group has guaranteed Atari the payment of an amount of 7.5 million euros to Atari over a period of 3 years.
A couple of days ago, on March 17, 2020, the Atari Group publicly mentioned that the company managed to raise a €3.26 million equity round. Some of that money will go to “finance the launch of new games” and let it “strengthen the marketing budget allocated to the Atari VCS.”
Due to its high popularity and level of success in the gaming arena, it will be fascinating to look at how the company will enter the ever-growing space of the cryptocurrency.
