Imagic ( ) was an American

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

that created games initially for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...

. Founded in 1981 by

corporate alumni Corporate alumni are former employees of an organization. The term "corporate" is prefaced to recognize the difference from "alumni" who are graduates or former students of universities, colleges or schools. Corporate alumni programs are commonpl ...

of Atari, Inc. and Mattel, its best-selling titles were ''

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

'', ''

Cosmic Ark ''Cosmic Ark'' is an Atari 2600 game designed by Rob Fulop and published by Imagic in 1982. The objective is to gather specimens from different planets in a spaceship which contains the survivors from the city of Atlantis. There are two versions ...

'', and ''

Demon Attack ''Demon Attack'' is a fixed shooter video game created by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. The game involves the player controlling a laser cannon from the surface of a planet, shooting winged demons that fly down an ...

''. Imagic also released games for

Intellivision The Intellivision (a portmanteau of intelligent television) is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. It distinguished itself from competitors with more realistic sports and strategic games. By 1981, Mattel Electronic ...

ColecoVision ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer expe ...

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

TI-99/4A The TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A are home computers released by Texas Instruments (TI) in 1979 and 1981, respectively. Based on TI's own TMS9900 microprocessor originally used in minicomputers, the TI-99/4 was the first 16-bit home computer. The assoc ...

IBM PCjr The IBM PCjr (pronounced "PC junior") was a home computer produced and marketed by IBM from March 1984 to May 1985, intended as a lower-cost variant of the IBM PC with hardware capabilities better suited for video games, in order to compete mor ...

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit entry level home computer that was sold by Commodore International, Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commod ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

TRS-80 Color Computer The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer, is a series of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different ...

, and

Magnavox Odyssey² The Magnavox Odyssey 2 (stylized as Magnavox Odyssey2), also known as Philips Odyssey 2, is a home video game console of the second generation that was released in 1978. It was sold in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7000, in Brazil and Peru as ...

. Their Odyssey² ports of ''Demon Attack'' and ''Atlantis'' were the only

third-party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a veh ...

releases for that system in America. The company never recovered from the

video game crash of 1983 The video game crash of 1983 (known in Japan as the Atari shock) was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985 in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including market saturatio ...

and was liquidated in 1986.

History

Imagic was the second third-party publisher for the Atari 2600, formed after

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

. Founders included Bill Grubb, Bob Smith,

Rob Fulop Rob Fulop is an American game programmer who created two of the Atari 2600's biggest hits: the port of arcade game '' Missile Command'' and 1982's '' Demon Attack'', which won '' Electronic Games Game of the Year award. While at Atari, Fulop ...

, and Denis Koble from Atari, Inc., Jim Goldberger, Dave Durran and Brian Dougherty from

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

as well as Pat Ransil and Gary Kato. Grubb previously served as the vice president of sales and marketing for Atari for 18 months. Before that, he was with the marketing department at Black and Decker for 11 years. It was Grubb's goal to take Imagic public and to eventually overtake

as the number one third-party video game publisher. Fulop, meanwhile, was previously a programmer at Atari, and claimed in a 2019 interview with ''Paleotronic Magazine'' that he left the company in favor of Imagic after being paid for developing the

port of ''

Missile Command ''Missile Command'' is a 1980 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Atari for arcades. Sega released the game outside North America. It was designed by Dave Theurer, who also designed Atari's vector graphics game '' Tempest'' from ...

'' with a

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

coupon for a free turkey rather than the monetary Christmas bonus he had expected. Atari sued Imagic over ''Demon Attack'' because of its resemblance to '' Phoenix'', to which Atari had the exclusive home-version rights. The case was settled out of court. Despite initial success and sales greater than projections, the company's fortunes reversed after the stock market dumped videogame stocks in late 1982, scuttling Imagic's initial plan to become a publicly traded company.

Fan club

During its height, Imagic ran a fan club for their games, the Numb Thumb Club, which published an annual newsletter. Only two issues were published before Imagic's decline began in late 1983.

Decline

Although Imagic grew quickly in its early years, it was irreparably harmed by the

. It released 24 games before going out of business by 1986, but the exact time it disbanded is unknown. In 1983, the company laid off 40 of their 170 employees but appeared at the 1984

Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...

with plans for four

games. The rights to Imagic's most popular titles have been owned by

since the late 1980s, and they have been re-released on several occasions.

Games

Imagic 2600 cartridges were distinct from both Activision and Atari cartridges with an extended ridge at the top of the cart. Packaging was distinctive due to the use of reflective silver on the boxes, with a tapered, ridged end intended for an easy grip. The years are for the original versions only, not subsequent ports.

References

{{Atari 2600 Atari 2600 Video game development companies Video game companies established in 1981 Video game companies disestablished in 1986 Defunct video game companies of the United States Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area