Atari Revisiting 70’s Glory With Asteroids: Outpost

To some, the golden age of arcade games has never left. For others and their collections of quarters, it couldn’t leave soon enough. Either way you look at it, one of Atari’s shining examples of gameplay comes in the arcade cabinet of Asteroids, all the way back in 1979. Flash forward more than 35 years later, and now Atari has announced, via press release, that the classic vector space shooter will receive a sequel.

Asteroids: Outpost is a PC Early Access game developed by Salty Games, branching out from the gameplay mechanics of old to create an “open world, sandbox style, survival experience, where players mine, build and defend their base and grow their fortune as they go ‘from rocks to riches.’” Gameplay seems to focus on actually landing on one of the aforementioned asteroids, mining it for its resources and setting up customizable bases in a competitive multiplayer scheme. Smaller asteroids and opposing players will be the main antagonists in the journey to expand your wealth.

What’s fascinating about the development of Asteroids: Outpost is the studio behind it. Salty Games is apparently comprised of team members who previously worked on titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Call of Duty: Ghost, Star Trek Online and others. This isn’t a run-of-the-mill Early Access cash-in, here; Atari is poised to make a serious push into resourced-based competitive online multiplayer gaming with Asteroids: Outpost.

Plus, cashing in on a legendary IP’s name decades later is a bold move for Atari, one that has seen recent IP sequels go for a more casualised route. Even though making Asteroids: Outpost an Early Access title will definitely send out some very warranted caution flags, having that studio of gaming industry veterans working on the project at least provides intrigue. It could be great, it could be a tarnish on the franchise’s name. At the very least, the development of the game will be interesting.

You can check out the Asteroids: Outpost website to stay up to date with the project.

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