Atari moves away from free-to-play and mobile to focus on premium PC and console games Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Atari moves away from free-to-play and mobile to focus on premium PC and console games Ping pong. News by Wesley Yin-Poole Deputy Editorial Director Updated on 6 Jul 2021 56 comments Atari's gaming division has announced a significant re-jig of its strategy, moving away from free-to-play and mobile games in favour of premium PC and console games. Five of Atari's free-to-play games will be discontinued or sold, it said. These are RollerCoaster Tycoon Stories, Crystal Castles, Castles & Catapults, Ninja Golf, and Atari Combat: Tank Fury. Watch on YouTube Eurogamer News Cast: who won E3 2021? "Successful" games with a "loyal user base" are not affected, Atari insisted. The company said it intends to use its catalog of 200 games to "build a strong pipeline" of premium games on all platforms. The first of these are currently in development. The news comes hot on the heels of Atari's launch of its VCS console. Atari said its new strategy will benefit the VCS in the long-term. Atari is also ditching its Atari Casino business in Africa. As for its TV show business, Atari said its new focus is on licensing agreements, and not on shows it produces itself. Atari said this significant refocus means a write-off of around five million euros for the financial year. "Our intent with any gaming experience is to provide accessible and joyful moments of meaningful play," CEO Wade J. Rosen said in a statement. "That's the core of Atari and what binds our history with our future. To that end, we feel that premium gaming is better representative of this type of gaming experience and the Atari DNA. "Despite this new focus on premium gaming, we remain committed to growing and expanding our successful free-to-play games that we have in the market." The Atari of today is not the Atari of old, of course. While it retains ownership over the likes of Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command and Pong, its focus in recent years was on mobile phones and licensing. It will be interesting to see what Atari's first new premium PC and console game turns out to be. Meanwhile, Atari also has a division focused on blockchain, which is developing the Atari Token cryptocurrency to use in Atari products and third-party apps. Yes, NFTs are being looked into. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 3 Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Overwatch 2 suffers another DDoS attack and character roster bugs Mei Mei. 13 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 3 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store