Atari wants to build a branded hotel in Las Vegas

Las Vegas resorts feature plenty of themes, from Paris to ancient Egypt.

Now an iconic video-game company wants a foothold in Southern Nevada’s hotel market.

Atari announced a licensing agreement Friday with Phoenix developer True North Studio and a firm called GSD Group to build Atari-branded hotels in eight U.S. cities.

The first is expected to break ground this year in Phoenix. The others would be in Las Vegas; Denver; San Francisco; San Jose, California; Seattle; Chicago; and Austin, Texas.

It did not provide a timetable for the other locations.

Atari said it will be entitled to 5 percent of the hotels’ revenue and that the projects would have “a focus on the video game universe and the Atari brand.” They would include an e-sport studio, an Atari “gaming playground,” meeting and event space, restaurants, bars and a movie theater.

The hotels are targeted at family or business travelers, Atari said.

Founded in 1972, Atari owns or manages more than 200 games and franchises, including Centipede and Pong.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.