Atari is a name synonymous with old-school gaming. However, now the California-based company has entered the world of online gambling by opening a virtual crypto casino in the metaverse Decentraland. Partially owned by CoinDesk’s parent company, the Digital Currency Group, Decentraland is a virtual shared space officially launched in February 2020, even though its beta version went live in 2017 when its initial coin offering took place.
Atari’s virtual gaming establishment in Decentralnd can get found in the platform’s Vegas City district. It started accepting patrons in late-April 2021 when it kicked off its debut with a massive virtual shindig. Famed DJ and electronic musician Dillion Francis was the center of these proceedings. The spot has now been operating for a year. It accepts MANA, Decentral Games, and Atari Tokens for bets, facing competition from a rising contender, the Japanese-themed Tominoya casino. Below is a breakdown of what Atari’s 3D cryptocurrency casino means for the interactive gaming industry and if it is a worthy investment for the former video game juggernaut.
What Is Atari’s Historical Significance?
It is hard to discuss old-school video games without someone bringing up Atari. Founded in 1972 by Ted Dabney and Nolan Bushnell, the company’s first-ever product, Pong, based on a table tennis game offered by the Magnavox Odyssey, redefined video gaming and ushered in a new era in this sector.
It got bought out by Warner Communications in 1976. After the game market faced some rough times in the mid-1980s when the company sold its games division to Namco, Atari attempted to remain profitable by shifting its focus to the desktop computer sphere.
Over the years, this brand has seen many ups and downs. Yet, it has never come close to reaching the heights it hit in the 1970s, when its Atari 2600 video computer system, or in modern terms console, was all the rage. Still, everyone remembers Atari as the company behind arcade machines like Asteroids, Space Race, and Cloak & Dagger. It now is looking to redefine itself as the proprietor of a 3D virtual gaming establishment akin to existing Bitcoin casinos, hoping to utilize its brand appeal to boost its name value and trailblaze a new way for people to gamble over the internet.
Crypto Casinos Explained
According to cryptocasinos.net, bitcoin gambling sites are identical to a online casinos accepting fiat money. Operators that look to cater to digital coin fanatics use the same software solutions intended for regular online casinos. The only difference is that they equip their banking tab with one or more crypto options and the adding crypto-specific bonuses to those platforms’ promo pages.
Metaverse casinos take online gambling a step further by providing a far more immersive gaming adventure, allowing gamblers to stroll a digital venue and interact with other patrons, get drinks, chit-chat, and more. Essentially, they supply almost all the possibilities on hand at a brick-and-mortar locale but through a smartphone or computer screen. Though, Decentraland is currently working on implementing VR technology, which will allow users to have a first-person experience of this digital shared space.
What Is the Atari Token?
It is a decentralized cryptocurrency based on the Ethereum blockchain. More specifically, its ERC-20 token standard. It got designed by Atari Chain, a subsidiary of Atari Interactive, the brand’s branch dedicated to targeting the interactive entertainment sphere.
The company’s token seeks to become a universal transaction option for the video game sphere, allowing publishers and developers to have a new monetization option for their products. Furthermore, it will permit them to implement advanced protection of in-game assets, integration of smart contracts, and more. At the time of writing, the main goal of the Atari token remains its use as a currency in the company’s metaverse crypto casino. Nevertheless, its management team hopes to utilize this virtual venue to promote future Atari-based non-fungible tokens and other of the company’s endeavors in the NFT landscape.
What Games Does Atari’s Cryptocurrency Casino Host
Though Atari has announced that its Decentraland casino will feature many games found at popular crypto gambling sites, plus Atari-themed ones, the current offer mainly consists of casino classics like blackjack and roulette, operated by robot dealers. So, those wishing to gamble on an Asteroid-inspired game will have to wait a while. Nonetheless, that could be a possibility soon, as metaverse casinos have no regulators and a free to offer products that mix in some skill-based gambling.
How Virtual Real Estate Became a Thing
Each metaverse is a vast map comprised of sections of land. Each parcel is a unique digital asset called a non-fungible token, or an NFT. These NFTs can get bought at primary or secondary metaverse marketplaces. Alternatively, they can get attained during a platform’s initial coin offering. Decentraland has 90,601 equal-size plots of virtual land. Users can buy adjacent ones to form estates on top of which they can build structures of their choosing. For example, Atari’s casino stretches on a 20-parcel estate in Vegas City, Decentraland’s gambling district. The company does not own the land they built their metaverse venue on. Rather, it has a two-year lease on this estate. That is par the course for most other cryptocurrency casinos in Decentraland and other virtual shared spaces.
According to multiple reports, the metaverse land sales totaled over $500 million in 2021. This figure should double in 2022, despite many predicting that the virtual real estate frenzy will settle down as the year progresses.
Is Launching a Virtual Casino a Decent Move For Atari?
Running a Bitcoin casino is now an extremely lucrative endeavor. Look at Stake, one of the world’s most famous Bitcoin gambling sites, with an estimated value of over one billion dollars. So, the question is, are metaverse crypto casinos the novel hot development in the gambling sector. Without argument, Atari’s metaverse venue brought loads of publicity to the brand and exposed it to new demographics. It also drew attention to its token and future NFT projects while also allowing it a new medium to advertise its existing catalog of products.
That said, there is no guarantee that metaverses will become the norm, as there is no such platform right now that has over a million active users, ones that utilize it daily. Additionally, it is likely that financial institutions and governments will get involved in the regulation of crypto transactions and businesses that allow them. So, there is no promise that Atari’s project will work long-term. Still, the company has to get praised for opening strong and coming in early to this market.
