Atari Is Making Hotels Now Because Sure, Why Not?

Atari began with arcade cabinets, then created some of the first home consoles. But it's been a while since they've had a good old-fashioned pivot to try to find the next big thing. Now it seems like they may finally be ready for that move. Yes, welcome to the next logical step in the lifespan of a videogame company: hotels.

Atari's getting into the hospitality industry now, but not because they wanted to -- because someone offered them $600,000 to license their name. $600,000 seems low for such a storied company, until you realize that Atari might be a little desperate for cash.

They're a video game company that doesn't really release games anymore, let alone hit ones. One of their more promising recent projects was the Atari VCS, a modern streaming console with a retro wood-paneled aesthetic that harkened back to the Atari 2600. Wikipedia says it's still expected to ship in March 2020. That's just over a month from now. Unless they're planning a massive Super Bowl commercial to get the word out, this thing isn't releasing on time. Maybe they can use some of that $600,000 to push it over the finish line. Or maybe just pay their employees since, according to reports, they didn't pay the project's lead architect for over six months. And that's after they raised over $3 million on Indiegogo.

The hotels will have restaurants, bakeries, bars, movie theaters, and large spaces for esports events. No word yet on a pitch black tennis court with white lines, though, so maybe hold off on reservations.

Luis can be found on Twitter and Facebook. Check out his regular contributions to Macaulay Culkin's BunnyEars.com and his "Meditation Minute" segments on the Bunny Ears podcast. And now you can listen to the first episode on Youtube!