Atari Announces 'RollerCoaster Tycoon' for Switch

By Edward Leano, Christian Post Contributor Friday, January 26, 2018

Atari could be bringing the beloved "RollerCoaster Tycoon" franchise to Nintendo Switch if their new crowdfunding campaign succeeds. There are some complicated things going on with the way Atari is going about this, though, starting from the way they are asking backers to invest in the project in a profit-sharing scheme.

The entry price to participate is quite steep, too, with the minimum investment set at $250, as Atari explained in their Start Engine page. Start Engine is a different crowdfunding website similar in some ways to Kickstarter, the difference being instead of selling projects with the promise of packages and perks, they are promising equity and future profit instead.

"For a game like this, the touchscreen interface is a natural fit, allowing users to craft incredible theme parks to their exacting specifications," Atari said in the game overview.

"Invest any amount into the campaign (with $250 as a minimum), and earn your pro rata share of 50% of profits until you made 120% of your original investment; after which you'll earn your pro rata share of 25% of profits until 18 months after the worldwide launch of the game, or the earlier termination of our license to market and sell the game!" Atari explained the way it works.

As the way it is now, this sort of campaign has been leaving some "RollerCoaster Tycoon" fans a bit bewildered and perhaps doubtful, as well, as Gamespot points out. Overall, it's been a slow start for the campaign, with the Start Engine page collecting $26,555 from 52 investors as of this time.

That works out to an average of over $510 per investment. Atari looks like it will be happy with whatever they can get, as they have set a wide-ranging goal of $10,000 to $1.07 million for the campaign.

The video below provides an early look at "RollerCoaster Tycoon" for the Switch, which could start being developed after the campaign wraps up in April.