You knew it was coming.
Back in November 2021, Intellivision went dark. There was no news, there was no stalling or anything, just silence. And as it turns out, that’s around the time Tommy Tallarico stepped down from his CEO position at the company. He was replaced by Phil Adam in an attempt to financially at least, right the ship.
And considering the company’s 76 page SEC filing, that may be an uphill battle. The January 19th, 2022 document details a lot of the issues with investing in a firm like Intellivision. The worst, however is the part where the Amico may never actually be released.
It is possible that there may never be a fully operational Intellivision Amico. It is possible that the failure to release the product is the result of a change in business model upon [the] company’s making a determination that the business model, or some other factor, will not be in the best interest of [the] company and its stockholders/members/creditors.
I’m personally shocked to find that a console from a company that hadn’t had a stake in hardware\ in forever, which spent crazy amounts of money on the design of a controller, and promised games on the blockchain may never see the light of day.
In case it wasn’t obvious, the document also sheds light on the company’s profits: there weren’t any. Since Tallarico revived the brand in 2018, the company had actually been operating at a loss. 4 years in the red! In addition, debts are taken not of, including an “aggregate of $3.1 million in outstanding loans” from its board members.
Intellivision, via funding drives, had raised $17 million towards the creation of the Amico, as well as the development of Software for the system. The company is currently seeking another $5 million, which would tide them over for “approximately seven to nine months”. According to them, if they only got $10,000 from crowdfunding, that would only keep the lights on for another 1 or 2 months.
The filing also mentions that they’ve spent $1.35 million in “pre-payments for electronic components to Ark Electronics USA”. This, however is a problem, as they’re in the middle of a contract dispute with that company, and states that “the disposition of those funds are potentially at risk”.
As for Adams? He announced a 4th crowdfunding campaign during an interview with a YouTuber that has ~3.5k subscribers.
Also, while the games themselves are being brought down to a $25 price point, the console is now going to be $350. That is, of course, assuming the Amico ever releases.
Ahh, the Amico. It still doesn’t have an announced release date. Not since it blew past October 2020.
Source: Nintendo Life
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