Atari to ditch mobile games and focus on premium console and PC releases

Atari has announced that it’s going to move away from mobile and free-to-play titles and pivot its business strategy back toward premium console and PC releases in the years to come.

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The change follows a good number of years in which the company’s brand strategy has involved more than a little dilution, including leasing its name out to casinos and hotels.

Now, the company has made an announcement around a new direction, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz.

Atari’s CEO Wade J. Rosen said, “Our intent with any gaming experience is to provide accessible and joyful moments of meaningful play. That’s the core of Atari and what binds our history with our future. To that end, we feel that premium gaming is better representative of this type of gaming experience and the Atari DNA.”

Rosen also acknowledged some of the reasons behind the change, including the increasingly competitive market for free-to-play titles, and indicated that a list of existing games in the Atari roster would be sold off or shut down in time, including the following: Roller Coaster Tycoon Stories, Crystal Castles, Castles & Catapults, Ninja Golf, and Atari Combat: Tank Fury.

What this means in terms of an actual release schedule is a matter for speculation at the moment, but Rosen indicated that there were titles aiming to launch this fiscal year, which runs until the end of March 2022, so there are clearly projects in the pipeline. These will most likely tie in with the recently released Atarai VCS console.