Atari Detaches Brand from ATRI Token

• ATRI token erases value fast after the announcement, down 30% immediately after the news.
• Atari remains interested in blockchain-linked gaming, but wants more control over its projects.

Atari, the gaming giant that made tentative partnerships in the P2E space, announced it will no longer support the ATRI token. ATRI is a minor asset, which relies on the UniSwap exchange for its major source of liquidity. 

While the asset will continue to exist, it will no longer carry the Atari brand. The Atarichain project was allowed to use the brand and propose to build an economy where ATRI was a tool for payments. 

Atari may offer a new asset, potentially offering better conditions for early ATRI token investors.

My thoughts-

As long as existing $atri holders get transferred to the new #AtariToken –

#1- Having 1 company in control is better than 3 butting heads.

#2- Share holders will eventually benefit from Atari getting full profits instead of 50%

— Josh (@PowerDubs) April 18, 2022

ATRI Token Now Gone

ATRI sank by 30% after the news, to $0.013, possibly falling out of relevance for good. The asset had less than $100K in trading volumes per day. But after the announcement, it’s possible the token will be totally worthless in the context of P2E. 

There is only one recourse for the old ATRI token. On April 18, Atari took a snapshot of wallets holding the asset and may reissue a new token to compensate holders. The gaming company stated it is still interested in P2E games and assets, but had a change of goals regarding Atarichain.

As late as February 2022, the Atarichain project claimed it added partners and it would have influence among P2E games. But so far, the project has achieved none of those goals. 

Is Atari Really Supporting P2E

Atari has bought metaverse land plots on Decentraland and dabbled in token branding. Back in 2018, Atari partnered with Animoca Brands to bring P2E versions of two of its games, Roller Coaster Tycoon and Goon Squad. The games have not appeared in the promised time span. 

One encouraging sign is that Atari was not happy with its licensing agreement and wants to control any blockchain projects directly. This is cited as the reason for breaking the License Agreement with ICICB Group and its subsidiaries, the entities behind Atarichain. 

The story of Atari repeats the branding withdrawal of F1 Delta Time, where Formula 1 retracted its copyright. The game was then taken over by REVV Racing and even the NFT collectible cars were deleted and replaced.