Editing Atari 8-bit computers (section)

=== Tramiel takeover, declining market ===

Commodore founder [[Jack Tramiel]] resigned in January 1984 and in July, he purchased the Atari consumer division from Warner for an extremely low price. No cash was required, and instead Warner had the right to purchase {{US$|long=no|240 million}} in long-term notes and warrants, and Tramiel had an option to buy up to {{US$|long=no|100 million}} in Warner stock. When Tramiel took over, the high-end XL models were canceled and the low-end XLs were redesigned into the XE series. Nearly all research, design, and prototype projects were canceled, including the [[Amiga#1850XLD|Amiga-based 1850XLD]]. Tramiel focused on developing the [[Motorola 68000|68000]]-based [[Atari ST]] computer line and recruiting former Commodore engineers to work on it.

Atari sold about 700,000 computers in 1984 compared to Commodore's two million.<ref>{{cite news|title=Trading Up in Computer Gifts|work=The New York Times|date=December 22, 1984|author=Kleinfield, N. R.}}</ref> As his new company prepared to ship the Atari&nbsp;ST in 1985, Tramiel stated that sales of Atari 8-bit computers were "very, very slow".<ref>{{cite news|title=Atari Ships New 520 ST|work=InfoWorld|date=June 3, 1985|author=Maremaa, Tom|pages=23}}</ref> They were never an important part of Atari's business compared to video games, and it is possible that the 8-bit line was never profitable for the company though almost 1.5 million computers had been sold by early 1986.{{r|hogan19810831}}<ref name="pollack19821219">{{Cite news |last=Pollack |first=Andrew |date=1982-12-19 |title=The Game Turns Serious at Atari |language=en-US |page=Section 3, Page 1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/19/business/the-game-turns-serious-at-atari.html |access-date=2021-02-18 |issn=0362-4331|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name=anderson>{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/stream/creativecomputing-1984-03/Creative_Computing_v10_n03_1984_Mar#page/n51/mode/2up|title=Atari|work=Creative Computing|date=March 1984|author=Anderson, John J.|pages=51}}</ref>{{r|bisson198605}}

By that year, the Atari software market was decreasing in size. ''[[Antic (magazine)|Antic]]'' magazine stated in May 1985 that it had received many letters complaining that software companies were ignoring the Atari market, and urged readers to contact the companies' leaders.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/stream/1985-05-anticmagazine/Antic_Vol_4-01_1985-05_New_Super_Ataris#page/n7/mode/2up|title=and we won't take it anymore!|work=Antic|date=May 1985|author=Capparell, James|pages=8, 10}}</ref> "The Atari 800 computer has been in existence since 1979. Six years is a pretty long time for a computer to last. Unfortunately, its age is starting to show", ''[[ANALOG Computing]]'' wrote in February 1986. The magazine stated that while its software library was comparable in size to that of other computers, "now—and even more so in the future—there is going to be less software being made for the Atari 8-bit computers", warning that 1985 only saw a "trickle" of major new titles and that 1986 "will be even leaner".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/stream/analog-computing-magazine-39/Analog_Computing_39_1986-02_Fifth_Anniversay_and_CES#page/n117/mode/2up|title=The End User|work=ANALOG Computing|date=February 1986|author=Leyenberger, Arthur|pages=109–110}}</ref>

''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' that month stated "games don't come out for the Atari first anymore".<ref name=greggman>{{cite magazine|title=Atari Playfield|magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]]|issue=25|date=January–February 1986|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_25.pdf|author=Williams, Gregg|pages=32}}</ref> In April, the magazine published a survey of ten game publishers which found that they planned to release 19 Atari games in 1986, compared to 43 for Commodore&nbsp;64, 48 for Apple&nbsp;II, 31 for IBM&nbsp;PC, 20 for Atari ST, and 24 for Amiga. Companies stated that one reason for not publishing for Atari was the unusually high amount of [[Copyright infringement|software piracy]] on the computer, partly caused by the [[Happy Computers|Happy Drive]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Survey of Game Manufacturers|magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]]|issue=27|date=April 1986|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_27.pdf|access-date=April 17, 2016|pages=32}}</ref><ref name=williams>{{cite magazine|title=Atari Playfield|magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]]|issue=31|date=September–October 1986|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_31.pdf|author=Williams, Gregg|pages=35}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Computer Wargaming 1988-1992|magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]]|issue=37|date=May 1987|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_37.pdf6|author=Brooks, M. Evan|pages=13}}{{Dead link|date=June 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The magazine warned later that year, "Is this the end for Atari 800 games? It certainly looks like it might be from where I write".<ref name=williams/> In 1987, [[MicroProse]] confirmed that it would not release ''[[Gunship (video game)|Gunship]]'' for the Atari 8-bits, stating that the market was too small.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Titans of the Computer Gaming World / MicroProse|magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]]|issue=41|date=November 1987|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_41.pdf|author=Brooks, M. Evan|pages=17}}</ref>