1976
Atari was sold to Warner Brothers in 1976 for $28 million.
“They end up selling it to Warner Brothers in 1976 for twenty eight million dollars.”
Topic
Atari
7 facts from 2 episodes, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
1980
By 1980, three years after the Atari 2600 launched, Atari's division of Warner Brothers earned $415 million in revenue.
“by nineteen eighty just like three years after the twenty six hundred launches the Atari division of Warner Brothers does four hundred and fifteen million dollars in revenue”
1982
The U.S. home video game market dropped about 97% within two years, from $3.2 billion in 1982 toward $100 million by 1985.
“To put that differently, a 97% drop in market size within two years.”
1983
Atari reported a $283 million loss in the second quarter of 1983 as part of Warner's earnings.
“in the second quarter of 1983, Atari reports a $283 million loss as part of Warner's earnings in 2Q 1983.”
Undated
Bushnell's Law, from Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, holds that a good game is easy to learn but difficult to master.
“Of course, the classic definition on this is previous acquired guest, Nolan Bushnell from Atari, Bushnell's Law, that a good game is something that is easy to learn, but difficult to master.”
Undated
Atari was Sequoia Capital's first investment, according to the hosts.
“And Atari becomes Sequoia Capital's very first investment and it goes even deeper than that.”
Undated
Former Atari engineers founded Activision to publish games for the Atari 2600 as a third-party publisher, and the hosts note Microsoft was acquiring it for about $80 billion.
“So the company they start is a little company called Activision which is now in the process of being acquired by Microsoft for just about $80 billion just as a third-party publisher.”
Episodes