Atarisoft
Illustration — Typical Atarisoft packaging. The predominantly red cover corresponds to the Apple II. Atarisoft was a brand name used by Atari, Inc. In 1983 and 1984 to publish video games for non-Atari home computers and consoles.
Atarisoft
- Founded
- 1983
- Headquarters
- United States
- Activity
- video game industry
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Illustration — Typical Atarisoft packaging. The predominantly red cover corresponds to the Apple II. Atarisoft was a brand name used by Atari, Inc. In 1983 and 1984 to publish video games for non-Atari home computers and consoles.
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wikidata · Q3627878 · wikipedia · Atarisoft
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Released
Released
Each platform had a specific color for its game packages: video games sold for the Commodore 64 were in green boxes, games for the TI-99/4A in yellow, the IBM PC in blue, and so on. So successful during the Christmas 1983 shopping season that the company released games for the discontinued TI-99/4A. By 1984 a rumor stated that Atari planned to discontinue hardware and only sell software. Despite being in existence for less than two years, Atarisoft had a huge video game library with dozens of game versions released. Almost all Atarisoft releases were produced by third-party developers, as Atari only developed for their own systems. The Atarisoft label did not bear Atari's recognizable "Fuji" logo nor the official logos of the games, rather, the game names were written in a different typeface. The Atarisoft brand as used by Atari, Inc. Was discontinued shortly after Warner Communications sold Atari's consumer division to Jack Tramiel in 1984. Many additional games were in production at the time. Most went unreleased although a few were eventually released by other companies. Some games were complete, such as IBM PC port of Joust, but never published. The new Atari Corporation initially used the Atarisoft brand. Several Atari 8-bit computer titles (both game and non-game) were published by Atari UK and Atari France using the Atarisoft label in 1985. Atari did not use the Atarisoft label again after 1985.
These were published during 1983–84. Most were released by Atari, Inc., but some of these were released by Atari Corporation later in 1984. • Battlezone (Apple II, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC) • Centipede (Apple II, ColecoVision, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, Intellivision, TI-99/4A) • Crystal Castles (Apple II, C64) • Defender (Apple II, ColecoVision, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, TI-99/4A, Intellivision) • Dig Dug (Apple II, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, TI-99/4A) • Donkey Kong (Apple II, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, TI-99/4A) • Galaxian (Apple II, ColecoVision, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, ZX Spectrum) • Gremlins (Apple II, C64, IBM PC) • Joust (Apple II) • Jungle Hunt (Apple II, ColecoVision, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, TI-99/4A) • Moon Patrol (Apple II, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, TI-99/4A) • Ms. Pac-Man (Apple II, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, TI-99/4A, ZX Spectrum) • Pac-Man (Apple II, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, Intellivision, TI-99/4A, ZX Spectrum) • Picnic Paranoia (TI-99/4A) • Pole Position (BBC Micro, C64, VIC-20, TI-99/4A, ZX Spectrum) • Protector II (TI-99/4A) • Robotron: 2084 (Apple II, BBC Micro/Acorn Electron, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC) • Shamus (TI-99/4A) • Stargate (Apple II, IBM PC) • Track & Field (Apple II, C64)
Unreleased
Unreleased
Promoted, partially developed, or fully completed games, but Atari did not publish them. • Asteroids Deluxe (BBC Micro) • Battlezone (BBC Micro/Acorn Electron) • Centipede (IBM PCjr) • Crystal Castles (IBM PC) • Dig Dug (BBC Micro/Acorn Electron, ColecoVision, Intellivision, ZX Spectrum) • Donkey Kong (BBC Micro/Acorn Electron, IBM PCjr, ZX Spectrum) • Donkey Kong Jr. (BBC Micro) • Galaxian (Intellivision) • Joust (BBC Micro, ColecoVision, C64, Intellivision, VIC-20, TI-99/4A, IBM PC) • Jungle Hunt (Intellivision) • Mario Bros. (Apple II, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, TI-99/4A) • Missile Command (Apple II, ColecoVision, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, Intellivision, TI-99/4A) • Moon Patrol (ColecoVision, IBM PCjr, ZX Spectrum) • Ms. Pac-Man (BBC Micro/Acorn Electron, ColecoVision, IBM PCjr, Intellivision) • Pac-Man (ColecoVision) • Pole Position (Apple II, Intellivision) • Robotron: 2084 (TI-99/4A, ZX Spectrum) • Sinistar (Acorn Electron, BBC Micro) later published as DeathStar by Superior Software • Stargate (C64, VIC-20, TI-99/4A) • Super Storm (TI-99/4A) port of Slime • Track & Field (IBM PC) • Typo Attack (Apple II, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, IBM PCjr) • Vanguard (Apple II, C64, VIC-20, IBM PC, Intellivision, TI-99/4A)
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
1983
Atarisoft established.
1983
Atarisoft is recorded from 1983.
Places
Named by the record
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- United States
Releases by Atari UK
Releases by Atari UK
• Illustration — Atarisoft-branded "Paint" / "The Pay-Off" floppy disk supplied as part of "Software Pack" in computer bundle All released in 1985: • Chess (Atari 8-bit) • Eastern Front (1941) (Atari 8-bit) • European Countries and Capitals (Atari 8-bit) • An Invitation to Programming (Atari 8-bit) • The Lone Raider (Atari 8-bit) • Software Pack (The Home Filing Manager and The Pay-Off / Paint) (Atari 8-bit)
Releases by Atari France
Releases by Atari France
All released in 1985: • Cameléon (Atari 8-bit) • Énigme du triangle (Atari 8-bit) • Nostradamus (Atari 8-bit) • Promoteur (Atari 8-bit)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Atarisoft”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3627878: Atarisoft
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Anderson, John J. Atari. Creative Computing. 51. March 1984.
- 2.Mace, Scott. Atarisoft vs. Commodore. InfoWorld. 50. 1984-04-09.
- 3.Interview with Gregg Tavares.
- 4.Gasking, Frank. Stargate (C64). Games That Weren't 64. October 23, 2024.
- 5.Atarisoft Changes. The Video Game Update. 2. 12. 186. March 1984.
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Atarisoft - Mario Brothers (1984, C64) (1984) — Internet Archive
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Publishers and printers
5,459 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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