Atari has been working on hard on a mysterious new game console as well as various other ventures, one of which is apparently a series of branded Atari hotels. No, really.
Kotaku reported on a press release from Atari’s investor arm talking about the deal. The old-school gaming company has concluded a deal with US-based real-estate developer True North Studio and GSD Group to create eight hotels in American cities featuring Atari branding. As a result of this deal, the Atari hotels will give the video game company a non-refundable $600,000 advance and 5% of the revenue of the hotels.
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What are the cities where the Atari hotels will be built? Well, they’ve laid out the plans rather nicely — the first is planned to break ground in Phoenix Arizona sometime in 2020. Here is the list of the planned cities:
- Austina, TX
- Chicago, IL
- Denver, CO
- Las Vegas, NV
- Phoenix, AZ
- San Francisco, CA
- San Jose, CA
- Seattle, WA
Notably, all but one of the eight planned hotels are West of the Mississippi River. The first planned location in Phoenix will be relatively close to the “Woz U” campus in the same city created by Apple co-founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak.
Each hotel will have a focus on the video game universe and related culture — no big surprise there — along with some of the latest developments in modern hospitality. A state-of-the-art esports studio could potentially be used by traveling pro teams, and more casual fans will be able to enjoy the Atari gaming playground. These are hotels, of course, and as such will also have their fair share of meeting and event rooms, co-working spaces, restaurants, bars, and other attractions like movie theaters and gyms.
It can take a fair few years for a hotel to actually be built, mind; remember that the Phoenix hotel is only breaking ground this year. We probably won’t actually be able to visit any of these locations for at least a few years. When the Atari hotels do arrive, though, they’ll probably provide a pretty interesting experience for hardcore gamers and families alike.
