Atari's Branded Hotel Is Already Selling Merchandise

By Brendan Menapace

Las Vegas loves a theme, doesn't it? Every hotel and resort in the city has its theme, and the branding goes down to the most minute detail, like bars of soap and signage. Atari is cementing its place on the strip with the opening of its first Atari Hotel in 2022.

And, like the rest of the hotels in town, Atari isn’t overlooking any potential for branded detail, bringing “the past, present and future of video games and entertainment for a destination that offers guests a once-of-a-kind hospitality experience, complete with state-of-the-art amenities for sports fans and content creators.”

E-sports have ingrained themselves in the modern competitive landscape, with teams and leagues inking deals with traditional sportswear companies like Nike and Puma, and arenas like Madison Square Garden selling out for events (when those are a thing).

Atari is betting that popularity and the power of nostalgia for people who want to get a kick out of all of the “Pong” they played as a kid.

The part that really intrigues us is the promise that the Atari-branded experience will start, according to Inven Global, “prior to checking in, and [last] far beyond check out.”

What exactly that will entail is still a mystery. But one thing that’s for sure is that you can already buy Atari Hotel branded merchandise, like apparel, a year before the flagship location opens in Las Vegas.

Credit: Atari Hotels

In keeping up with the apparel sales trends of the day, Atari Hotels is also doing its merchandise releases in “drops,” like streetwear brands.

Down the line, Atari also plans to open immersive, branded lodgings in major U.S. cities like San Francisco, New York and Seattle.

We can imagine the hotel key cards will have some fun branding on them. There will no doubt be some video-game themed slot machines. The nightclub, too, has a lot of room for some "Ready Player One"-esque video game theming to it, too.

And we've seen branded hotels open to big success, mostly due to their experiential elements. Taco Bell, for example, opened a hotel in 2019, selling out of reservations in minutes. These kinds of ventures bring practically limitless opportunities for printed and promotional products, so it'll be interesting to see what Atari cooks up.