It's No Game: Atari Joins IoT with SIGFOX Network

Pong, Asteroids, Missile Command… IoT? You bet your sweet Q*bert that the IoT is the newest venture by the company that taught the world to love gaming and break controllers.

Atari has partnered with SIGFOX, a provider of dedicated IoT connectivity, to develop a line of new connected devices. The goal is to bring together Atari’s brand and creative services and SIGFOX’s solution to cover a wide range of new Atari products. We don’t yet know if this means that we’ll finally get analytics on Dig Dug’s weird inflatable weapon thing, but it’s exciting news, nonetheless.

Really, though, these tools will be built to help folks with very simple needs, and for highly sophisticated IoT operators, the two companies said. The initial product line will include home, pet, lifestyle and safety category solutions. On SIGFOX’s global network, the products will have optimal battery life, will not require local Internet connectivity or pairing because the item will be on the network as soon as the battery is inserted.

“SIGFOX is transforming the way people are connecting to their objects in a simple and intuitive way. By partnering together and using SIGFOX's dedicated IoT connectivity, we are going to create amazing products with our brand,” said Fred Chesnais, CEO, Atari. “We look forward to our collaboration with SIGFOX and releasing new products to the mass market on a global scale.”

 “Atari, which has disruption rooted in its DNA, was quick to envision the transformative role that the Internet of Things can play in interactive entertainment,” said Ludovic Le Moan, CEO, SIGFOX. “Our network bridges the virtual and physical worlds simply, reliably and inexpensively and this collaboration will launch a new dimension to gaming, while supporting features that are limited only by the imagination.”

Development of the new product line will begin this year. Let’s hope that this partnership avoids the crocodiles and goes all the way to the kill screen.