In recent years there has been a lot of interesting developments in the retro gaming community. Atari not only launched their Atari VCS, with new games more recently, they even purchased fan hub AtariAge (popular digital gathering spot for retro fans). We saw the fanfare around the rise of Intellivision and then the slow realization, so far, the Amico is allegedly vaporware. Now, mergers have begun, reaffirming my belief that, honestly, the retro gaming market is not as big as fans want you to believe it is.
Atari Is Becoming the Disney of the Retro Gaming World
I do not mean that in a bad way, just pointing out a fact. Through mergers and buyouts over the decades, we have come to Atari coming back from the dead. Over the years, the company has been making moves to improve its image and provide something tangible for fans.
Their acquisition of the Intellivision brand and game library is just one more step in that direction. Sure, this puts more intellectual properties under the control of one company, it also gives those IPs their best chance of actual use, rather than sitting dormant locked away from fans.
According to Atari on Facebook, and Twitter, if you prefer, Atari has taken over the ownership of not only the Intellivision brand but the game library as well.
They also stated that the former Intellivision company will now rebrand and [allegedly] continue distribution of the Amico console.
The Future of Atari/Intellivision
Currently there is no word on how Atari will proceed with the Intellivision brand and game library. They could potentially release Intellivision cartridges, and controllers, for the Atari VCS console. They might offer up an all-in-one console like what was popular in the 2010’s. They could also launch a brand new Intellivision console and keep things separate of the Atari VCS line.
That second option, I just do not see them doing. Why segment the market like that? If they were to release a new Intellivision console, I see them likely changing the shell of the Atari VCS, maybe rebranding the VCS as their “software platform” for the lineup (or using a new name) that runs across multiple hardware. Similar to Microsoft Windows or Linux. Computer users do not buy a Microsoft Windows 11 branded PC, they buy a Dell or Acer running Microsoft Windows 11.
I see that concept being the far more likely if Atari were to branch out to a new console for Intellivision.
Partly because why segment their market? The retro gaming market is not as big as people want to believe. If it was, we would see far more releases from bigger companies “going back to basics” with smaller teams, smaller budgets, etc for releases. Instead, they are not. The market simply is not that big.
I think moves like this, Atari purchasing Intellivision, are interesting and I want to see where they go with this.
As far as the Amico, I personally do not see that coming to fruition. It might thanks to the obvious influx of cash from Atari purchasing the Amico’s most recognizable tie to retro gaming (the name and game library) but without those things – is Amico finally safe to say “dead”? A rebranding is not going to help them gain market share, they have already damaged their reputation too much – anyone that followed the Retro VGS (I covered it on my website for 14 months, almost daily) knows a rebrand is not often the best route – it might be time to just officially end it.
What do you think of the acquisition here? Are you excited for the future of Atari and retro gaming?