Atari’s situation is getting ridiculous, with the clouds gathering over the production of the Atari VCS.

Tom’s Hardware has reported that the Atari VCS production may not last much longer. In its 2022/23 half-yearly report, Atari said it had sales of $4.65 million, a 27% drop from the 2021/22 half-yearly report. Hardware sales fell into the ground, as they were down 92% from the 2021/22 total of $2.44 million to a measly $212466. That number is almost insignificant!

In response, Atari started to reorganize its hardware division. Part of it is to suspend direct hardware manufacturer partnerships for the Atari VCS, which means that the console is performing so poorly that production should be cut. Despite it, the company is beginning to push a new strategy that could “new hardware complementary to the Atari VCS with partners under licensing contracts.” In the US, the Atari VCS 800 All-in Bundle is almost exclusively available in Atari’s stores, as major chains such as Target have already stopped selling it (it’s not even on their website), while Amazon has no stock.

Very shortly, Atari management might have to decide that anything related to the Atari VCS should be dropped from the company’s plans as a matter of urgency. Indeed, the company is now only in name with the Atari of the 70s and 80s. Still, at least they have got as far as getting the Atari VCS into shops despite the difficult circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic when another classic name has about as much chance of doing so as we have of winning the lottery.

Does anyone remember the Intellivision Amico? It was initially supposed to launch in October 2020, but Tommy Tallarico’s (formerly known as a video game composer) plans don’t seem to be going anywhere…

Source: WCCFTech