Atari has today announced a new physical game collaboration with Activision called the Atari x Activision Collection. The unexpected project reunites Activision with Atari after almost 50 years.
The full set of working, physical game cartridges includes 39 classic Activision games, like Pitfall!, River Raid, and Kaboom!, and there will be three ways to purchase them.
Individual, “Standard Edition” versions of 12 of the games will be available from November for USD$35 each. The 12 games include Pitfall!, River Raid, Megamania, Enduro, Kaboom!, H.E.R.O., Pressure Cooker, Private Eye, River Raid II, Keystone Kapers, The Activision Decathlon, and Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (although Atari notes The Activision Decathlon and Pitfall II: Lost Caverns will actually ship at a later date than the other titles). The Standard Edition games feature full packaging and a printed, colour manual inspired by the original releases. They’ll be compatible with Atari 2600+ and Atari 7800+ consoles, as well as original Atari 2600 and 7800 hardware.
There will also be four box sets available, which will widen the collection to the full 39 games. The first of the four box sets (which are dubbed Treasure, Speed, Secrets, and Victory) will be available from late November, with the remaining three will follow over the first three quarters of 2027. These will be available via pre-orders at atari.com for USD$250. A complete collection of all 39 games (which will reportedly include a yet-to-be-announced “collectible item”) will also be sold via pre-order for USD$1000.
“In 1979, a group of Atari programmers set out to prove that great games could come from independent creators and ended up changing the industry forever,” said Atari’s VP of hardware Matt Burnett in a comment published in conjunction with today’s announcement. “The Atari x Activision Collection brings that legacy to life through the games themselves, giving fans an opportunity to experience, collect and preserve the work of the developers who helped establish a new model for the video game industry.”
The resurrection of fresh, physical versions of Activision’s very oldest games comes as an interesting surprise amid the bleak times collectors of physical media are currently otherwise facing, and with PlayStation maintaining its decision to discontinue physical discs in the near future won’t have any negative impact on its business either now or in the future.
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.
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