Atari Announces New “Asteroids” Game
It Only Took 36 Years
The name of the game is "Asteroids: Outpost" and it is Atari's spiritual successor to the classic game "Asteroids" which originally debuted in 1979. I'm sure you've played Asteroids. The little game where you're a little triangle that flies around the screen shooting at big rocks (well, outlines of rocks) that explode into smaller rocks and you just try to last as long as you can while dozens of tiny rocks jet around the screen. I'm sure you're wondering: "I wonder what kind of crazy top-down asteroid shooter simulator that Atari could make with today's technology?!"
Well, for starters, the game won't just be a straight shooter. It's an online, open-world, survival, sandbox type of game. But it's set on an asteroid, so that's where the name comes in.
Its set in an asteroid belt, actually. In "Asteroids: Outpost," you play as a deep-space miner building up your claim on a mineral-rich asteroid. The game revolves around building up your outpost, mining, crafting new equipment and eventually expanding, which could potentially bring you into conflict with another player's outpost. Conflict between different player-run outposts seems like it will be a significant part of this game, with the option to build alliances or take over rivals with brute force.
As another homage to the original game, there will occasionally be asteroid storms where the players will have to man the guns and shoot incoming space rocks out of the sky to avoid damage to their outpost (and, of course, collect them for resources later). Atari is very optimistic about the potential of this long overdue (?) sequel:
Asteroids is one of the most iconic titles in Atari’s portfolio of more than 200 games and franchises, and we're looking forward to ushering the game into today's digital gaming era. We're paying homage to the original Asteroids by incorporating classic features such as asteroid blasting capabilities, while introducing a completely new premise and gameplay. Asteroids: Outpost will appeal to both fans of the classic Asteroids as well as enthusiasts of immersive survival games and expansive MMOs.
Fred Chesnais, Atari CEO
The game is in development by Salty Games, which is a new development studio out of Los Angeles and boasts industry veterans from the teams that brought us games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Star Trek Online. It will be supported by Arktos Entertainment Group - which is responsible for "The War Z," a game that launched so poorly that it had to change it's name (which...isn't the best sign).
"Asteroids: Outpost" will launch sometime in March on Steam Early Access.
