Fans of retro gaming can rejoice after console firm Atari announced they were launching their own online casino inspired by games from their back catalogue.
The firm, renowned for their ground-breaking (back in the day) titles like Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Pong, plans to reveal updated versions of their best games and allow punters to wager on their outcomes.
The casino will be built on the blockchain, utilising the ‘Vegas City’ digital development. Players will be able to create their own avatar as well in order to interact with others on the site. It will be developed by Decentral Games, who have previous in crypto-casino builds, and will be available via their Decentraland portal.
A statement from Decentral Games read:
“By combining our expertise in building crypto casinos with Atari’s decades of experience in developing video games, we are excited for our community to immerse themselves in an innovative and new gaming experience.
“Look forward to Atari-themed games, where nostalgia-inducing games are brought back with a twist. There will be games of luck, and games combining skill and luck. There will also be an ‘Atari special’ game where you can win by skill instead of pure luck.”
According to sources, the Atari casino will launch in May 2021, with expectations that bets totalling more than $400 million will be placed within its first two years of opening.
Atari are going full steam ahead with their various crypto-casino projects. It was announced in 2020 that they plan to launch an Atari-themed hotel chain – Las Vegas has been touted as a possible location for the first property, and the firm has also developed their own ATRI token that can used within their casino portals.
What is a Blockchain Casino?
What is unique about so-called blockchain casinos is that you don’t actually use standard money to place your bets.
Instead, you use a cryptocurrency such as Ethereum or a dedicated alternative (in this case ATRI), and you will be paid out in the token $DG – that can then be used across Decentral Games’ product range.
This has been aided by the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFT), which is a unique piece of digital ‘art’ that can only be owned by one person at a time. new Kings of Leon album, for example, has been released as an NFT – the point being that no two copies are the same. In time, they may – or may not – increase in value, depending on their exclusivity and interest among buyers.
By paying gamers in NFTs, online casinos offer them something that could actually be worth more than the standard currency they would otherwise pay out with.
Confused? You have every right to be, but the suggestion is that crypto casinos could be the future of the digital gaming sector.
The blockchain allows for complete anonymity too when casino gaming, which is welcomed by some but also allows for miscreants – think money launderers and hackers – to push their ill-gotten gains through sites as digital assets.
Crypto casinos are deregulated too, and that means that the likes of the UK Gambling Commission will never have an impact upon integrity and security in the sector – for now at least, these sites seem a risk not worth taking.