Atari’s Shambling, Zombie Corpse is in trouble again

Is it already time? Atari, whatever the real meaning of this name, once again announces that it is experiencing a financial crisis. You can adjust your watch based on how often this happens. Who would have thought that launching a console no one wanted, while investing in crypto scams, wasn’t the path to riches for a struggling company that had nothing up its sleeve but a brand? once respected?

Atari died in 1984. Since then, his cursed skin has been abused and uncomfortably by a series of companies, each falling into their tormented bane, freed only when they trick another company into donning the rotten skin suit. . Even the version of the company that released the Atari ST in the mid-1980s was the result of financial meltdowns, splits, rebrands, and co-ownership of many companies. Its buy-and-sell history is confusing, with the name repeatedly held by Namco, Warner, Mitsubishi, JTS Corp, WMS Industries, Hasbro Interactive and Infogrames. This ship of Theseus has been sinking for decades.

The latest gruesome company claiming to be Atari is almost impossible to identify, but somehow started as a rebranding of Infogrames, almost acquired by Namco Bandai, at one point employing a total of 10 people, before experiencing another bankruptcy, an attempt to be a casino gaming company, and recently, the embarrassing mess that is the Atari VCS: a console few seem to want. And then he discovered crypto.

The VCS (Modern) was intended to be that retro sweetheart, a PC-based console produced by that name you remember your dad loved in the early 80s, designed to look like time travel back to the Reagan years. Raising funds through IndieGoGo, the obviously doomed project somehow pulled in more than $3 million from backers, though that fell somewhat short of its deranged goal of $100 million. It then finally released in 2020, after multiple delays, second only to the PS5 and Xbox Series X, pales in comparison to both. According to financial reports published this weekIt… didn’t go too well.

As Tom’s gear noticed, the semi-annual revenue shows that while the equivalent material revenue of 2021 was $4.65 million, that of this year was only $212,466. That’s a whopping 92% drop, and the report itself identifies the issue as “VCS underperformance.”

As a result, regardless of the current situation, Atari says it has spent the first half of the fiscal year on (deep breath) “the reorganization of the Hardware business line which includes the suspension of direct hardware manufacturing relationships, particularly with regard to the Atari VCS, for which a new commercial strategy has been put in place from the end of calendar year 2022 and which will continue into calendar year 2023.” I hope that no one has had to read this sentence aloud.

However, Atari does not abandon the console for which no child has ever written to Santa Claus. The report continues: “In parallel, Atari plans to develop new hardware complementary to the Atari VCS with partners under license agreements.” He also insisted on Tom’s gear that “Atari remains committed to the VCS platform”, explaining that more developer support has been added, more old games included and the intention “to expand the VCS ecosystem and create additional utility for users”.

You know what else it remains dedicated to? Crypto bullshit! The report boldly states that “the first half of the period was primarily focused on laying the foundations of Atari X, which included collaborations and partnerships with Web3 partners as well as the implementation of NFT sales which were successful, despite unfavorable market conditions for the blockchain. Activities.”

Is Atari X the same as the Atari Token, the company’s crypto nonsense in 2020? I don’t care, but I still found out that’s not the case. The company launched the Token in partnership with ICICB Group, an organization it just announced it was done with. This week’s report mentions ‘licensing deals that never materialized’ regarding ICICB, stating that all licensing agreements between the two have been ‘terminated effective April 18, 2022’, writing off 11 million euros ($11.6 million) from its accounting records. The section adds, “Atari has announced plans to create a new token focused on gaming, community, and utility.”

If you’re wondering what ICICB is, so am I, and that’s after reading the company’s “About” page. I swear this is real and not a parody I wrote:

Based on a global strategy of value creation through the integration of the group and the application of “selection and concentration” tests to companies as well as the creation of synergies by the integration of business management functions, and innovative tools and technologies, the ICICB group is showing significant growth in the banking and financial sector.

So yes, after the resounding success of Atari Token, Atari “reaffirms its commitment to the blockchain business” by launching Atari X instead, adding that it also proves its “belief that blockchain could be an important part of the Atari’s business and strategy”.

“Could be”!

As Eurogamer adds, all of this commitment and dedication led Atari to report “a lack of cash and additional funding needs”. In other words, he needs more money. Unsurprisingly, given an overall loss of 5.4 million euros ($5.7 million), much worse than last year’s loss of 3.5 million euros ($3.7 million ).

We reached out to Atari to ask if he is still tied to Atari Token and why he plans to continue investing in VCS after his obvious flop. We also asked if his hotel plans with ICICB continued after this split, because, yes, he was building hotels. We’ll update if we hear back.

Hopefully, 2023 will be the year trying to build on the nostalgia of games from 40 years ago and investing in crypto will finally pay off for Atari!