Atari wants to bring what appears to be a new RollerCoaster Tycoon to the Nintendo Switch but needs your help to make it happen. The company launched a StartEngine–which differentiates itself from the likes of Kickstarter by allowing backers to invest and in return, receive a share of the project’s profits–a few days ago, on Jan. 24.
The minimum investment is set at $250 and any investor will earn a pro rata share of 50 percent of profits until they’ve made 120 percent of their original investment back. After that, the pro rata share will drop down to 25 percent of profits until 18 months after the worldwide launch of the game or an earlier termination of Atari’s license to market and sell the game.
All of the above percentages could decrease if the project doesn’t reach its goal of $2 million. Currently, the project has 56 investors and has raked in just $28,805, which is just under 1.5 percent of the games overall goal. The project has 87 days left to go.
If one invests $750, they will receive a discount of 25 percent off the street price of the game at launch, valid for one copy of the game. They will also have the option to list their name on an investor’s site online hosted by Atari Game Partners–all investors will have this option available to them.
By investing $1500, you’ll not only receive the perks listed above but a free copy of the “The Art of Atari.” It is unclear if any of these investment levels come with a copy of the game at launch, but the wording of the $750 investment level makes it seem as if you won’t get a copy of the game.
Atari plans to take complete advantage of the console’s innovative home and portable capabilities, according to the game’s StartEngine page. Atari also says this game will be made “specifically for the Switch,” making it sound as if this game will be built from the ground up for the system. They also state that the Switch’s “console functionality with portable capability make it a perfect home for a franchise like RollerCoaster Tycoon.”
The game will be developed by Canadian studio, Nvizzio Creations, with Atari citing that, “Nvizzio Creations has a deep understanding of and respect for the RollerCoaster Tycoon brand, enabling them to develop an entirely new game that takes advantage of the innovating features of the Nintendo Switch.”
Nvizzio Creations is the team behind RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch, a free-to-play mobile RollerCoaster Tycoon, and RollerCoaster Tycoon World on PC. As of now, the game is not in development and according to the StartEngine page, will begin in the months ahead. Assuming Nvizzio Creations is awaiting the results of the campaign, the team might begin work in April, which is when the campaign ends.
Oddly enough, the game is set to launch later this year. How Nvizzio Creations plans to make that happen, assuming they won’t even begin development until April, is a bit of a mystery but only time will tell–or the results of this StartEngine campaign.