Atari returns to its roots by focusing again on premium games instead of mobile and free-to-play titles

In the age when more and more companies are looking for new opportunities on mobile platforms, Atari has decided to go in a different direction. The company has plans to abandon some of its business efforts to produce more premium games for PC and consoles again.

Atari’s board of directors has signed off on a new approach of moving away from free-to-play and mobile games, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

As the company’s new CEO Wade J. Rosen said, premium gaming “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,” he stated.

Although Atari will continue to operate and support some of its free-to-play titles, it will abandon or sell off a handful of games. The list includes Crystal Castles, Ninja Golf, Atari Combat: Tank Fury, and Roller Coaster Tycoon Stories.

On top of that, the company will exit its Atari Casino business in Africa and give up its ambition to enter the world of TV production.

Atari is now planning to release a strong catalog of premium games, and the first projects are expected to come out during the current fiscal year (ending March 31, 2022). The company didn’t provide details about these titles but said that the fulfillment of this strategy will probably require a $5.9 million impairment loss.