Highlights:
● Atari and Animoca Brands expand existing partnership and licensing arrangement.
● Animoca Brands gains global development and distribution rights, including for
blockchain and NFTs, for an additional 15 iconic Atari Games, including classic
blockbusters Pong, Asteroids, Centipede, and others.
● A further 13 titles to be included contingent on revenue milestones.
● Animoca Brands becomes preferred supplier of blockchain content and technology
on the Atari VCS game console.
● Non-exclusive distribution agreement for the Atari VCS in Asia.
● Animoca Brands will launch the Games on its casual gaming platform Gamee, and
offer digital collector assets from the Games on its digital collectibles platform Quidd.
Animoca Brands Corporation Limited (“Animoca Brands” or the “Company”) is pleased to advise that it has entered, via its subsidiary Animoca Brands Limited, into an amendment (the “Amendment”) to its license agreement with Atari Interactive, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atari SA (XPAR: ATA, NASDAQ: PONGF, “Atari”). The Amendment is a significant expansion of the partnership with Atari and grants Animoca Brands the right to develop and distribute globally 15 classic Atari ® arcade games (including classic blockbusters Asteroids, Pong and Centipede), the right to develop and publish blockchain versions of these titles including the integration of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and to be the non-exclusive distributor in Asia and exclusive provider of blockchain content globally for the Atari VCS console.
The Amendment expands the license held by the Company (please refer to the announcement dated 18 December 2018) to include an additional 15 iconic Atari titles (the “Games”) on any platform and any distribution channel, inclusive of blockchain products, for a term extending through to 31 January 2025. The Games include Centipede ®, Pong®, Breakout®, Asteroids®, Missile Command®, Crystal Castles®, Adventure®, Lunar Lander®, Tempest®, Millipede®, Night Driver ®, Agent X®, Space Duel®, Star Raiders®, and MajorHavoc®; Animoca Brands has the right, until 31 December 2020, to swap the last five games for other Atari titles. Upon meeting revenue milestones, Animoca Brands will gain the rights to an additional 13 Atari games at no extra charge. Animoca Brands has the right to produce and distribute non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for all assets for the Games. The Amendment grants to Animoca Brands the rights to distribute the Games through the platforms of its subsidiaries and affiliated entities, principally Gamee and Quidd. Animoca Brands intend to launch the Games on Gamee’s mobile, web, and desktop platforms, and the Company will also offer digital collector assets from the Games via its subsidiary Quidd. Gamee is the popular casual games platform recently acquired by Animoca Brands (please refer to the announcement dated 2 July 2020), and Quidd is the leading global marketplace for buying and selling branded digital collectibles (please refer to the announcement dated 7 August 2019).
The Amendment also grants Animoca Brands non-exclusive distribution rights in Asia (excluding Australia and New-Zealand) for the upcoming Atari VCS game console. Animoca Brands will set up and operate its own online retail store covering the region through to 30 September 2022.
The Company, together with Atari, will be the exclusive blockchain gaming content provider for the Atari VCS console until 30 September 2022, including the right to incorporate its preferred blockchain technology solutions (such as a crypto wallet), which will make the VCS the world’s first dedicated blockchain gaming game console. Lastly, Atari and Animoca Brands have reached an agreement in principle for a token swap of Atari Tokens and tokens owned by Animoca Brands, in limited amounts of less than
US$100,000.
Transaction details
As consideration for the expanded licensing arrangements provided by the Amendment, the Company will pay to Atari a minimum guarantee against future revenues payable through the issuance of 18.7 million shares of the Company priced at A$0.21 per share. The entirety of this license fee is recoupable against royalties paid to Atari from the revenue generated by
the Games. As consideration for the exclusivity for Atari’s VCS game console, Animoca Brands will pay a minimum guarantee against future revenues to Atari of US$320,000, payable before 31 July 2021 at its discretion in cash or through the issuance of 2.2 million shares of the company priced at A$0.21 per share.
Frederic Chesnais, CEO of Atari, commented: “We are thrilled to strengthen our partnership with Animoca Brands, whose vision for the integration of blockchain technology into video games is perfectly aligned with ours. When we signed the initial agreement, we always envisaged to expand it to the most iconic games of the Atari catalog to turn them into blockchain games. Our ambition for the Atari VCS is to develop an ecosystem that gives users access to the largest number of tools for creation and entertainment. Blockchain games inside a virtual world are a perfect example of the types of entertainment that we want to propose to the Atari VCS userbase. It was the natural choice to ask our partner Animoca Brands, whose leadership in blockchain gaming is unquestioned, to offer their blockchain gaming content directly on the Atari VCS.”
Yat Siu, co-founder, and chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “This significant expansion of our partnership with Atari allows Animoca Brands to leverage some of the greatest ever classic games into our blockchain strategy and on our popular platforms, including the hypercasual gaming platform Gamee and the digital collectibles platform Quidd. We are very excited at the opportunity to catapult these nostalgic, history-making games into the future.”
About Atari
Atari, comprised of Atari SA and its subsidiaries, is a global interactive entertainment and multiplatform licensing group. The true innovator of the video game, founded in 1972, Atari owns and/or manages a portfolio of more than 200 games and franchises, including globally known brands such as Asteroids®, Centipede®, Missile Command® and Pong®. From this important portfolio of intellectual properties, Atari delivers attractive online games for smartphones, tablets, and other connected devices. Atari also develops and distributes interactive entertainment for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo game consoles. Atari also leverages its brand and franchises with licensing agreements through other media, derivative products and publishing. For more information: www.atari.com and www.atari-investisseurs.fr/en/.
Atari shares are listed in France on Euronext Paris (Compartment C, ISIN Code FR0010478248, Ticker ATA), in Sweden on Nasdaq First North Growth Market as Swedish Depositary Receipts (ISIN Code SE0012481232, Ticker ATA SDB) and are eligible for the Nasdaq International program in the United States (OTC – Ticker PONGF).
About Animoca Brands
Animoca Brands is a leader in the field of digital entertainment, specializing in blockchain, gamification, and artificial intelligence technologies to develop and publish a broad portfolio of mobile products including games such as The Sandbox, Crazy Kings, and Crazy Defense Heroes as well as products utilizing popular intellectual properties such as Formula 1®, Marvel, Garfield, Snoopy, Thomas & Friends™, Power Rangers, MotoGP, and Doraemon. Animoca Brands’ portfolio of blockchain investments and partnerships includes Lucid Sight, Dapper Labs (creators of CryptoKitties), WAX, Harmony, and Decentraland. The Company is based in Hong Kong, United States, South Korea, Finland, Argentina, and the Czech Republic.