Foundational to the history of gaming, Atari was not willing to let web3 slip through its fingers after decades of humming below the surface of the industry it helped pioneer. Today, the gaming brand has innovated with web3 launches, built a web3-native community of thousands of fans on Discord, and is expanding on its previous efforts to build a new brand loyalty platform inspired by the company’s history.

Atari Club recently launched in public beta in February 2024 after many months of testing with community members holding an Atari Redemption Certificate (ARC) NFT, with much more to come in the future for Atari Fans.

Atari’s first steps in web3

Atari had its eyes on blockchain technology as far back as 2018, first announcing a partnership with leading web3 venture studio Animoca Brands to create a blockchain-based entry in the Rollercoaster Tycoon franchise and the Goon Squad mobile game.

Since that first foray, the Atari team licensed its brand to a variety of web3 operations, including virtual sneaker and collectible brand RTFKT and blockchain-enabled party game Blankos Block Party, launched its’ “Sunnyvale” experience in The Sandbox, and formally organized all of its blockchain work under the Atari X unit in May 2022. It’s safe to say that the Atari team fully believes in the potential of web3 technology and is in the space for the long term. 

After establishing a reputation in web3 through a host of collaborations, the company dove headfirst into launching its own NFTs in September 2022 with both feet with the 50 Years of Atari (50YOA) collection, teaming up with Brazilian artist Butcher Billy and dropping 2,600 NFTs featuring artwork inspired by classic Atari games like Crystal Castles and Swordquest, all to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Atari’s founding in 1972.

“The 50 Years of Atari drop was a success,” Tyler Drewitz, director of Atari X, told OpenSea. “We found so many fans of Atari, young and old, who wanted to see more from us and from the brand. Butcher Billy is an amazing artist who helped us capture their attention and really draw them into what we’re building.”

Reviving the Atari Club

Nearly a year after 50YOA came out, the Atari X team was ready to plant the seeds for reviving one of Atari’s signature programs: the Atari Club, a membership for Atari fans that ran in the early 1980s and sent its members the exclusive Atari Age magazine.

”We might be getting some inspiration from the olden days,” said Drewitz. “There’s a really famous promotion based on the game Swordquest that was never finished. We might just see some sort of conclusion to that adventure with the new Atari Club.”

A primitive of the new online Atari Club was ready to go and it needed members, so the Atari X team dropped another NFT collection, enabling anyone with a 50YOA NFT to mint for free. This new collection was dubbed the Atari Redemption Certificates and it allowed holders to access this early version of the Atari Club.

Nearly 700 people collected ARCs, and lined up to see what this new revamp of Atari Club had to offer. Members were given opportunities to buy exclusive merchandise and unique game experiences built on Atari’s history and the lore of its games.

Atari Club’s future

The Atari X team sees a bright future for the Club, a new way to engage fans of the Atari brand across channels and reward them for that engagement. With the beta launch, Atari Club is moving upstream to wider audiences and making it easier to onboard. Using a “Web 2.5” approach blending web2 and web3 methodologies, members can log in via email and are not required to connect their wallets, but may still do so if they wish.

That doesn’t mean 50YOA and ARC holders are getting left in the arcade dust, though.

“We’ve built this community for the long term — it’s the foundation for Atari Club and everything going forward,” said Drewitz. “Late last year, we dropped a holder-exclusive navy jacket in our Members Only collab and we have even more in store down the road.”

Drewitz anticipates Atari Club becoming a next-generation sort of loyalty platform, integrating web3 dynamics seamlessly and seeding the brand out to the masses across every format possible.

“What’s old is new again,” said Drewitz. “Atari pioneered third-party game development decades ago and now we’ll be embracing third parties with Atari Club, whether that’s UGC from the fans, supporting developers making games, or continuing to curate our partners doing cool things in the space.”

Atari Club has already kicked off voting activations for the community and has more to come. Gaming fans looking for a nostalgia hit filtered through new platforms and formats should watch Atari Club, as it’s well-positioned to change how gaming fandom works in the modern era.