Atari was, perhaps, the first major video game entertainment company in the United States. Their games populated arcades and then were among the very first to make their way into homes via the Atari 2600 video game console. The early technology company might not seem ground-breaking by today’s standards, but as a company who made their own consoles and distribute their own games, they helped to set the standards that other companies—like Nintendo and Sega—that became the gold standard of gaming during its early rise.
And as Nintendo and Sega grew—lending, of course, to Sony and Microsoft in the new generation—it seemed as though Atari would fade into absolute obscurity.
Apparently, though, Atari may have just been biding their time, waiting for the right partnership; and that time might be now.
Now, SIGFOX is already known as an early adopter in the NB IoT field. In fact, their proprietary technology has already been in use in radios, far ahead of the company’s closest rivals. This is particularly true in the company’s native France where they have already deployed 1200 base stations.
So far, SIGFOX has already been able to raise more than $150 million in funding and has been able to expand, at the very least, a network presence in 18 more countries. They now have approximately 7 million devices under management.
In addition, though, SIGFOX announced earlier this month they are making a concerted effort to breach the US market. The plan, they announced, is to take its services into 100 cities through cell tower site owner partnerships. The Atari deal, then, easily supports this move, quickly following to not only provide new technology but also a history and beloved branding that they can use to target not only mass market groups but also charity organizations.
In the press release, the companies said: “The cooperation will bring together Atari’s brand and creative power with SIGFOX’s unique value proposition: connecting the physical world to the Internet through a simple, reliable, low-cost, energy-efficient solution,” adding that “The collaboration will cover a wide range of new Atari products, from the very simple to the highly sophisticated, providing customers with an easy way to know at any time where the devices are and what their status is.”
