Atari purchases Intellivision

In what has more of a symbolic relevance than an economical one, Atari (or what is modern day Atari) has announced today that it has acquired the intellectual properties and libraries of Intellivision Entertainment.

Nearly 50 years ago, Atari and Intellivision were the pioneers of home console gaming. Igniting a consumer war for the marketshare of best home console, the two rivals have long since become a shell of the juggernauts they once were. 

After various sales themselves, Atari is now owned by a French company that has since attempted to capitalize on nostalgia using the Atari brand. The Atari VCS was the first big console with an Atari name in decades. It launched in 2020 to mixed reactions.

Intellivision on the other hand was a product born out of the labs of the toy brand Mattel. Making it into the national scene at CES and Christmas catalogs of department stores like JCPenney in 1979, the brand has a legacy in gaming history that will forever be linked with Atari.

And like their former rival, Intellivision has a delayed console called the Intellivision Amico in development for release. The Amico was not part of the sale, nor was the actual company Intellivision Entertainment itself.