Commodore shocks retro TechTuber with option to buy 'the whole company'
But hints any potential deal may need significant investors.
Retro tech tuber Perifractic has released an intriguing video dubbed Can We Save Commodore? My Biggest Project Yet! During the video, we hear that the reason for the channel host’s recent absence is rather dramatic – he is attempting to buy Commodore, and thus bring it back into the hands of its fans. Ultimately, this will mean a whole host of new Commodore branded and ‘chicken head’ logo-bearing products that the community believes pass muster to be worthy of the official marque.
The above video at Retro Recipes is just part 1 of a series, and ends with a very big tease. Nevertheless, it is pretty interesting for retro fans to hear about the chance of a beloved brand of old being rejuvenated – and not just for a cash grab (fingers crossed).
After an intro, a brief history of Commodore, and talk about the achievements of the retro community up to this point, Perifractic starts to outline his plan. The blockbuster success with his earlier passion project, the Commodore 64x PC, inspired the retro tech tuber to believe that “the love is definitely still there for the brand and for new Commodore computers.”
It started as a community licensing proposal
Starting to outline the plan, Perifractic explains that to begin, efforts should be made to “negotiate an exclusive license with Commodore.” This would honor the company legacy, deliver fairer pricing for the community, and provide QC-tested branded Commodore machines, official upgrades, and official replacement parts.
Next, the video broached the potentially thorny issue of funding in situations like this where crowdfunding isn’t possible. The current owners of Commodore Corporation B.V. aren’t going to give away licenses or the brand for peanuts. Thus, Perifractic directs viewers of the video to an outreach form, and asks angel investors to get in touch. Don’t worry about checking out the form, all it does is give Retro Recipes a way to get in touch about updates. However, you can also use parts of the form to indicate if you are interested in any investments, partnerships, licensing, or other business matters.
‘The Plan’ video chapter suggests that the goal was to negotiate a great community licensing program, where the community pays a modest flat 6.4% to use the brand for products that pass QC.
Commodore responded with an unexpected offer
Right at the end of the video, there is a twist that may raise the graying eyebrows of Commodore fans around the globe. Perifractic reveals that he received a message direct from Commodore Corporation B.V. that states “yes we can grant you an exclusive license, but your team seems to know Commodore better than we do, we might like to sell you the whole company.”
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Sadly, we are left with this cliffhanger. Viewers are told to stay tuned for Part 2 of this video, “live and Let Buy.” But we don’t have a date for the video publication. Stay tuned, indeed.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
-
Sluggotg I don't believe there is One Commodore company. I think there is multiple ones that own different parts. I could be wrong. I do know if you are a fan of Commodore you should look into the company Cloanto. Specifically their C64 Forever and Amiga Forever emulators. When you buy them you are also buying a license for the Commodore ROMs and OSes.Reply
It really is nice playing Commodore games on my PCs. I buy a every new version they come out with. -
codewar65 I absolutely love Commodore. But this does little for Commodore other than allowing branding on things non Commodore. Official C=64 teeshirts, coffeemugs, hoodies, mouse pads, themed x64 based laptops, etc. Not helpful.Reply
We need new 'official' hardware with the feel. Maybe a RISC-V using Petscii bare metal. Boots into simple CLI. With a simplified GPU like a Vera or adjacent. Comes with text editor, macro assembler, BASIC, C, and Pascal compilers, debuggers, and decent instructions to get newbs into it. A modern opensource CPU can easily emulate old CBM systems, just want a clean slate in the style of; under one roof. -
ejolson One could imagine the Commodore brand would fit well with a fully US-designed and manufactured RISC-V based competitor to Raspberry Pi. However, rather than Python or Assembler, Basic, C and Pascal, how about Assembler, Go, Rust and Julia along with free built-in subscriptions to Copilot, Claude Code and Gemini Code Assist?Reply
On the other hand, maybe not. -
fiyz That's fairly rad. This stuff was all before my time, but the idea of a fanatic enthusiast getting to own the brand they are fanatic about is a cool story.Reply -
JeffreyP55 Reply
Commodore filed for chapter 11 in 1995. I loved my Amiga's. Commodore was the death knell for wonderful computers.Admin said:In response to a licensing inquiry, Commodore Corporation has shocked retro TechTuber Perifractic with an option to buy 'the whole company'.
Commodore shocks retro TechTuber with option to buy 'the whole company : Read more
DefunctMay 6, 1994; 31 years ago -
Zazazx Unless some original Commodore hardware and software engineers — the real soul of the company — can be involved in some capacity, I’m honestly not that enthused. Do wish them well.Reply -
JeffreyP55 Reply
Here's the guy you want back at Commodore.Zazazx said:Unless some original Commodore hardware and software engineers — the real soul of the company — can be involved in some capacity, I’m honestly not that enthused. Do wish them well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Haynie -
binba Reply
Did you watch the video? It's nice that you're offering your bit of knowledge… but evidently Peri — as the video details — researched, knows, and shared the exact iterations of the Commodore IP in authoritative detail. Just watch it.Sluggotg said:I don't believe there is One Commodore company. I think there is multiple ones that own different parts. I could be wrong. I do know if you are a fan of Commodore you should look into the company Cloanto. Specifically their C64 Forever and Amiga Forever emulators. When you buy them you are also buying a license for the Commodore ROMs and OSes.
It really is nice playing Commodore games on my PCs. I buy a every new version they come out with. -
binba Reply
Huh? Did you watch the video? It's literally about the opposite of what you're saying; not just merch, but new products, like you're saying. Especially if they end up owning the brand, of course…codewar65 said:I absolutely love Commodore. But this does little for Commodore other than allowing branding on things non Commodore. Official C=64 teeshirts, coffeemugs, hoodies, mouse pads, themed x64 based laptops, etc. Not helpful.
We need new 'official' hardware with the feel. Maybe a RISC-V using Petscii bare metal. Boots into simple CLI. With a simplified GPU like a Vera or adjacent. Comes with text editor, macro assembler, BASIC, C, and Pascal compilers, debuggers, and decent instructions to get newbs into it. A modern opensource CPU can easily emulate old CBM systems, just want a clean slate in the style of; under one roof.
Despite being an 80s kid, I actually had nearly no interaction with Commodore in my life; I was a PC kid. But this sounds like a fun adventure; best of luck to them.