Atari, one of the world’s most recognized names in gaming, has partnered with FlowPlay, a leader in virtual world games and technology, to launch into the social casino market with its first casual casino gaming title, Atari Jackpots. The Atari-themed virtual world brings casino-style play online in a multi-player game with Atari classics including Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede and Missile Command.
Atari Jackpots features a full suite of virtual currency casual casino games and social environments including a slot room, nightclub, wedding chapel and more. In the Centipede-themed poolside area, players can chat in a giant indoor ball pit, and get up close and personal with the one and only iconic Centipede. The Breakout dance club offers a social environment as well where players can exchange Asteroids and Bonus Charms, which increase virtual currency payouts while playing.
Upon entering the game, players will be drawn into a virtual casino with Atari branded slots. Additional single- and multi-player games have also been incorporated including blackjack, video poker, solitaire and bingo.
“Fred Chesnais, our new CEO, had the great idea to get into the social casino space. He and our COO Todd Shallbetter connected with [FlowPlay CEO Derrick Morton] and discussed different opportunities and different ways to partner, and this was the fruition of Atari Jackpots,” said Tony Chien, director of marketing for Atari. “We wanted to jump into the [online social] space because the market is rapidly growing and it’s a big opportunity. We have the IT and the audience to bring to the space and Flowplay has the expertise in social casino, making this a great partnership.”
When it comes to how Atari Jackpot stands out from its competition, Morton said it’s all about the interactions. “The social aspect is the main thing. There’s no other game that we’re aware of, where you can really play in a room with other people and be in virtual environments like you would be in a casino. There’s no chapel where you can get married, a nightclub where you can go dancing and meet other people in a really interesting social environment where people form real friendships and real bonds.”
Although the game just launched, Atari and FlowPlay are already planning for its future. A Centipede-branded version of solitaire and Bonus Charms inspired by Atari favorites will be incorporated in the up-coming months. They plan on improving and adding to the game as soon as possible based on player feedback.
“That will be on a rolling basis. We highly utilize our social media outlets,” Chien
said. “Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or forums, as a gaming company I think it’s very important that we get as much feedback as we can from our audience and see what
they like and don’t like. And that’s constantly happening every day for different games that we work on.”
Atari Jackpots is now available worldwide at www.atarijackpots.com.