Editing Activision (section)

=== Early years (1980–1982) ===
Activision began working out of Crane's garage in the latter half of 1979, each programmer developing their own game that was planned for release in mid-1980: ''[[Dragster (video game)|Dragster]]'', ''[[Fishing Derby]]'', ''Checkers'', and ''[[Boxing (Atari 2600)|Boxing]]''.<ref name="gi activision start"/> The four's knowledge of the Atari 2600, as well as software tricks for the system, helped them make their own games visually distinct from Atari-produced games.<ref name="Gamasutra" /> To further distinguish themselves, Activision's boxes were brightly colored and featured an in-game screenshot on the back cover.<ref name="Gamasutra" /> Instruction manuals for games devoted at least one page to credit the developer. Additionally, for nearly all of Activision's games through 1983, the instruction manuals included instructions for sending the company a photograph of a player's high scores to receive a patch in return.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/10/26/activision-badges-the-original-gaming-achievement.aspx |title=Activision Badges – The Original Gaming Achievement |first=Kyle |last=Hillard |date=October 23, 2016 |access-date=February 12, 2019 |magazine=[[Game Informer]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213123800/https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/10/26/activision-badges-the-original-gaming-achievement.aspx |archive-date=February 13, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Ahead of the release of the first four games, Activision obtained space at the mid-year 1980 [[Consumer Electronics Show]] to showcase their titles, and they quickly obtained favorable press.<ref name="gi activision start"/> The attention afforded to Activision worried Atari, as the four's departure had already created a major dent in their development staff.<ref name="Gamasutra" /> Atari initially tried to tarnish Activision's reputation by using industry press at CES to label those that took trade secrets as "evil, terrible people", according to Crane, and then later threatened to refuse to sell Atari games to retailers that also carried these Activision titles.<ref name="gi activision start"/> By the end of 1980, Atari filed a formal lawsuit against Activision to try to stop the company, claiming the four had stolen trade secrets and violated [[non-disclosure agreement]]s.<ref name="gi activision start"/> The lawsuit was settled by 1982, with Activision agreeing to pay royalties to Atari but otherwise legitimizing the third-party development model.<ref name="Gamasutra" /><ref name="forbes kotick">{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0202/052.html#788254c31a16 |title=Activision's Unlikely Hero |first=Peter |last=Beller |date=January 15, 2009 |access-date=February 12, 2019 |work=[[Forbes (magazine)|Forbes]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806105646/https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0202/052.html#788254c31a16 |archive-date=August 6, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Following the first round of releases, each of the founders developed their own titles, about once a year, over the first few years of the company.<ref name="Gamasutra" /> While their 1980 games were modest hits, one of the company's first successful games was ''[[Kaboom! (video game)|Kaboom!]]'', released in 1981, which was Activision's first game to sell over a million units.<ref name="gi activision start"/> Activision's breakout title was 1982's ''[[Pitfall!]]'', created by Crane. More than four million copies of the game were sold.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/08/26/top-10-best-selling-atari-2600-games |title=Top 10 Best-Selling Atari 2600 Games |author=Levi Buchanan |website=[[IGN]] |date=August 26, 2008 |access-date=September 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726161836/http://retro.ign.com/articles/903/903024p1.html |archive-date=July 26, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Near the end of 1982, Kaplan left Activision to work on the development of the [[Amiga]] personal computer as he wanted to be more involved in hardware development.<ref name="edge history">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.edge-online.com/features/short-history-activision/ |title=A Short History Of Activision |date=August 24, 2006 |access-date=February 13, 2019 |magazine=[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404231907/http://www.edge-online.com/features/short-history-activision/ |archive-date=April 4, 2013}}</ref><ref name="gi activision start"/>

[[File:Carol Shaw Holding Gold River Raid Cartridge.jpg|thumb|left|[[Carol Shaw]] in 1983 with her award plaque for selling over 500,000 copies of ''River Raid'' for Activision]]
Total sales for Activision were estimated at {{USD|157 million|long=no}} and revenues at {{USD|60 million|long=no}} ahead of its June 1983 [[initial public offering]]; at this point Activision had around 60 employees.<ref name="Gamasutra" /><ref name="gi activision start"/> [[Danny Goodman]] stated in ''[[Creative Computing]] Video & Arcade Games'' in 1983, "I doubt that there is an active [Atari 2600] owner who doesn't have at least one Activision cartridge in his library".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Goodman |first=Danny |author-link=Danny Goodman |date=Spring 1983 |title=Home Video Games: Video Games Update |url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/cva/v1n1/vgupdate.php |magazine=Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games |page=32 |access-date=November 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107020633/http://www.atarimagazines.com/cva/v1n1/vgupdate.php |archive-date=November 7, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The company completed its public offering in June 1983 on NASDAQ under the stock ticker AVSN.<ref name="Gamasutra" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.inc.com/magazine/19830901/2878.html |title=Small Company Initial Public Offerings: June 1983 |date=June 1983 |work=[[Inc. (magazine)|Inc.]] |access-date=February 12, 2019 |archive-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124131445/https://www.inc.com/magazine/19830901/2878.html |url-status=live }}</ref>