Atari acquires Intellivision Brand

Atari announced it has purchased the Intellivision brand and certain games from Intellivision Entertainment LLC. Intellivision Entertainment LLC will rebrand and continue its business of developing and distributing the Amico brand game console with a license from Atari to continue to distribute new versions of the Intellivision games on the Amico console. 

Expanding distribution

Atari will seek to expand digital and physical distribution of legacy Intellivision games, potentially create new games, and explore brand and licensing opportunities as part of a long-term plan to create value from the Intellivision properties. 

“Uniting Atari and Intellivision after 45 years ends the longest running console war in history,” said Mike Mika, Studio Head at Digital Eclipse, an Atari-owned game studio. 

The history

The first Intellivision home video game console was released by Mattel Electronics in 1979 and the console platform sold an estimated 5 million units through 1990. Atari and Intellivision arguably fought the first console war of consequence in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mattel went as far as enlisting the actor George Plimpton to appear in a series of ads comparing the two systems, as well as an eight-minute long video shown at the Gamescom trade show.

“This was a very rare opportunity to unite former competitors and bring together fans of Atari, Intellivision and the golden age of gaming,” said Wade Rosen, Chairman and CEO of Atari.

Source: www.atari.com