This Fabled Console War Is Over: Atari Aqcuires Longtime Competitor Intellivsion
Written by djfrosty on May 24, 2024
Source: Albert L. Ortega / Getty / Atari
It took a while, but Atari finally came out on top in its competition with longtime rival Intellivision.
For those who are only familiar with Sega and Nintendo, or Xbox and PlayStation going at each other, there were two video game companies vying to be in people’s homes, Atari and Intellivision.
Atari and Intellivision launched dueling consoles, the Atari 2600, and Intellivision.
Intellivision was developed by Mattel Electronics and introduced to the world in 1979. Its console sold about 5 million units by 1990.
Thursday, May 23, one of the most storied rivalries in the video game industry ended when Atari announced it had acquired Intellivision.
Atari announced that it would acquire its longtime rival and the 200 games in its library.
Atari wrote in a press release, “Atari will seek to expand digital and physical distribution of legacy Intellivision games, potentially create new games, and explore brand and licensing opportunities.”
The Intellivision Amico Is Not Part of The Acquisition
The Verge reports that the acquisition does not include the Intellivision Amico, the new console Intellivision announced in 2020 that it was working on and that led by infamous “liar” and legendary video game composer Tommy Tallarico.
The website notes that Intellivision will rebrand itself and grant licensing rights to the new company, allowing Intellivision games to be on the console.
“We look forward to our expanded collaboration and the prospect of bringing a broad array of new titles to the Amico family gaming platform,” Intellivision CEO Phil Adam said in the press release.
Atari now specializes in retrogaming, launching mini retro versions of its classic consoles and releasing its classic games on modern consoles. It also owns Digital Eclipse, a studio that specializes in retro gaming.
We are curious to see the fruits of this acquisition.