Atari buys Intellivision brand, ending longest running console war

Atari has purchased the Intellivision brand, ending what Atari claims to be the “longest running console war in history”.

Atari’s home consoles went head-to-head with Mattel’s Intellivision in the late 1970s and 1980s, long before Nintendo and Sega competed in the 1990s. Intellivision even enlisted actor George Plimpton for an infamous series of advertisements comparing the two consoles.

Now Atari owns the rights to over 200 games from the Intellivision portfolio and its trademarks. However, Intellivision Entertainment will continue developing and distributing the Amico console under a new brand and with a license from Atari to distribute new versions of Intellivision games on that console.

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

“Atari has been a valuable partner and we have every confidence they will be a responsible steward of the storied Intellivision brand,” said Phil Adam, CEO of Intellivision Entertainment. “We look forward to our expanded collaboration and the prospect of bringing a broad array of new titles to the Amico family gaming platform.”

Atari will now expand the digital and physical distribution of Intellivision games, explore brand and licensing opportunities, and potentially create new games.

So, perhaps a Lego Intellivision to match the Atari? Until then, there’s a new t-shirt.

Last month, Atari bought the rights to Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 from developer Frontier, meaning it’s now the sole publisher of all games in the theme park sim series.

Before that, last year Atari bought the rights to over 100 retro games from the 80s and 90s, including Bubsy, Demolition Racer, and more.