Atari acquires technology to deliver PC and console experience on mobile devices.

Atari and Wonder Join Forces, February 2020

Atari has announced its acquisition of the Wonder mobile gaming platform and WonderOS, with the intention of ultimately integrating Wonder technology into future editions of the Atari VCS gaming and entertainment platform so that users can one day enjoy their home experience on the go. This will be exciting news for Atari VCS customers.

Video game and technology journalist Heidi “HB” Duran caught up with Wonder CEO Andy Kleinman in the wake of the Wonder tech acquisition by Atari, and Andy shared his thoughts on the platform, the partnership, and some of what Atari VCS fans might one day be able to look forward to.

HB: What was the original inspiration for WonderOS?

AK: When we look at the incredible rise of mobile gaming, the numbers are staggering. Mobile games have surpassed every other category of games on both users and revenue. But when it comes to user experience, core gamers have a tough time adjusting to playing on their phones in comparison to their consoles and PCs.

From a technological standpoint, the best smartphones today are able to run most of the games that have ever been made, and with 5G at our doorstep, whatever cannot be processed locally on the phone can be done through the cloud.

So our mission became to create the ultimate gaming experience that would unite all other experiences. WonderOS has the best user experience and interface for gamers to interact with all their favorite games, on any device, through a combination of not just our technology but also integrating all the other features people love to use for streaming, interacting with friends, discovering new content and more.

Wonder is designed to extend PC and console game experiences across mobile devices.

HB: What makes this technology stand out from other cross-platform offerings on the market today?

AK: I always describe what’s happening with gaming as something similar to what has happened with OTT video. There are too many offerings, but the user experience is terrible because there is too much fragmentation. People used to have one cable or satellite account and flip channels, now you need to sign up for 7 different services, login on each device, figure out what show is in which, etc. Not a great experience. Gaming is suffering from something similar, as more new entrants like Google and Amazon get into gaming, and large studios such as Ubisoft, Activision or EA launch their own DTC offerings. Wonder doesn’t want to create another alternative that fragments the experiences or confuses people, it wants to unify all of the existing options into one central, easy to use experience.