Atlas: Earth has officially introduced Landmark Auctions, a feature that allows players to compete for digital ownership of recognizable real-world locations. The rollout follows a long-standing community request and marks a shift for the mobile title as it expands its focus from general virtual land to collecting specific physical places.

Quick Facts

  • Recent Landmarks: The first auctions featured Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse in Nova Scotia and Jackson Square in New Orleans.
  • Auction Mechanics: Participants must use bid tokens—earned through gameplay—to enter bidding rooms. The final bidder receives the opportunity to purchase the landmark with Atlas Bucks.
  • Economic Model: Landmark owners earn a portion of the hard currency whenever other players purchase location-specific badges for their virtual passports.
  • Global Rollout: The company plans to release one to two new landmarks globally each month throughout the summer.

Auction Participation and Costs

The auction for Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse resulted in a winning bid of 1,361 Atlas Bucks, roughly $60, while the more competitive auction for Jackson Square reached 24,460 Atlas Bucks, or approximately $1,000. According to CEO Sami Khan, the system is designed to reward persistence rather than wealth, requiring players to actively manage their bids within a real-time, concurrent room.

Integration with Real-World Activity

Atlas: Earth continues to operate as a cashback product that uses virtual land as a gamification layer. The company reports over six million downloads and more than $10 million distributed in user rewards since its 2021 launch. The introduction of landmarks is intended to deepen this connection; following the Peggy's Cove auction, community reports suggested an uptick in physical foot traffic at the actual lighthouse.

Alongside the landmark feature, the developer has expanded its ecosystem with Tesoro XP, a program that rewards players with in-game currency for spending at participating local restaurants. Approximately 20% of the game's monthly active users currently participate in the Tesoro program, which supports partnerships with chains like Subway and thousands of small local businesses.