Atari announces that qomp2 releases on February 22

Atari has announced that qomp2, the follow-up to the 2021 Pong continuation, will be released on February 20 on PC and console.

qomp was a game that dared to ask dangerous questions like, “What would happen if the Pong ball escaped from the confines of the court and went on an adventure?” I’m not sure how you extrapolate further on that, but Atari and Graphite Lab are going to try. They promise “An enigmatic story of doubt, fear, and self-acceptance, told wordlessly through simple effects and gameplay.” Sounds appropriately depressing.

Alongside the announcement of the release date, they released a short video of the Pong ball being interviewed in vertical cell-phone ratio, and I kind of hate it. I wonder if it’s the knee-jerk revulsion I have toward social media that’s the problem.

I didn’t play the original qomp, but it does sound like a fun premise. For a little while, at least. The first game was only played using a single button, but qomp2 adds a second one that is used for dash. It’s a logical evolution. Pong used no buttons, qomp used one, and qomp2 will use two of them.

This falls in line with Atari’s new focus on smaller games that leverage their existing brands. It’s a bit interesting that, while the original game was created by a group of indie developers under Stuffed Wombat, qomp2 has been handed off to Atari’s frequent collaborator, Graphite Lab. I have to wonder if they’ll be able to capture the same charm and impact of the original qomp.

qomp2 will launch for PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 4 and 5 on February 20, 2024.