| Imagic | |
| Type: | Private |
| Foundation: | 1981 |
| Defunct: | 1986 |
| Fate: | Liquidation |
| Location City: | Los Gatos, California |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Key People: | Bill Grubb Dennis Koble Bob Smith Rob Fulop |
| Industry: | Video games |
Imagic was an American video game developer and publisher that created games initially for the Atari 2600. Founded in 1981 by corporate alumni of Atari, Inc. and Mattel, its best-selling titles were Atlantis, Cosmic Ark, and Demon Attack.[1] Imagic also released games for Intellivision, ColecoVision, Atari 8-bit computers, TI-99/4A, IBM PCjr, VIC-20, Commodore 64, TRS-80 Color Computer, and Magnavox Odyssey². Their Odyssey² ports of Demon Attack and Atlantis were the only third-party releases for that system in America. The company never recovered from the video game crash of 1983 and was liquidated in 1986.
Imagic was the second third-party publisher for the Atari 2600, formed after Activision.[2] Founders included Bill Grubb, Bob Smith, Rob Fulop, and Denis Koble from Atari, Inc.,[3] Jim Goldberger, Dave Durran and Brian Dougherty from Mattel[4] as well as Pat Ransil [5] and Gary Kato.Grubb previously served as the vp of sales and marketing for Atari for 18 months.[6] Before that, he was with the marketing department at Black and Decker for 11 years.[7] It was Grubb's goal to take Imagic public[8] and to eventually overtake Activision 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 Atari 2600 port of Missile Command with a Safeway coupon for a free turkey rather than the monetary Christmas bonus he had expected.[9]
Atari sued Imagic over Demon Attack because of its resemblance to Phoenix,[10] 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.[11]
During its height, Imagic ran a fan club for their games, the Numb Thumb Club, which published an annual newsletter.[12] Only two issues were published before Imagic's demise in 1983.
Although Imagic grew quickly in its early years, it was irreparably harmed by the video game crash of 1983. 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[13] but appeared at the 1984 Consumer Electronics Show with plans for four IBM PCjr games.[14] The rights to Imagic's most popular titles have been owned by Activision since the late 1980s, and they have been re-released on several occasions.
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.