Peri Fractic Now Officially The New Commodore CEO
Peri Fractic, aka Chris Simpson, has now completed the business side of things and fully taken over as Commodore’s new CEO. He announced the news on the official Commodore account on X before the weekend, and followed it up with a brief video to confirm it.
Simpson runs the Retro Recipes YouTube channel, where he announced last month that he was planning to buy Commodore, followed by news that he was the acting CEO as the sale was being processed. He then revealed a brand new Commodore keyboard, the 64 Ultimate.
“Commodore is finally in the hands of those who truly care: the community, and the original employees,” Simpson said in a video posted to X on Aug. 2, 2025.
“And now the fun really begins. Commodore reboots not just as a retro brand with next-gen ideas, but as the digital detox brand, picking up right where we left off in the nineties, and therefore perfectly positioned to help free society from toxic tech and bring joy back to computing – nineties and Y2K style.”
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Too Many Commodores
This news does, however, accompany claims by other companies to the Commodore name and brand. A vocal opponent of Simpson’s recent efforts is Commodore Inc., an Italian company that has trademarked a few very specific uses of the name and famous “chicken lips” logo.
This version of Commodore also states that it’s founded by fans of the original business, but whereas Simpson’s version of the company is making retro-inspired tech, the Italians are slapping the logo on new devices, including laptops and smartphones.
For his part, Simpson hasn’t yet countered any of Commodore Inc.’s claims, quite possibly because he now owns the vast majority of trademarks. His deal involved signing with Commodore Corporation, B.V., the main license holders for years, and as such he’s now acquired, as he puts it in the recent video, “all 47 original Commodore trademarks,” with the oldest dating back to 1983.
There are also quite a few companies making Commodore-related devices, such as Retro Games, which recently released the C64 Mini Black, and 8BitDo, which released a C64-inspired Retro Mechanical Keyboard in March. However, neither of these companies explicitly mention the Commodore name (although 8BitDo features a Commodore-branded monitor in promo shots), nor are they kicking up a fuss about the new version of Commodore.
One Big Happy Family
Simpson has publicly stated that he plans to work closely with other people aligned with the brand, though, with an example being Sean Donohue from My Retro Computer; Donohue has been making Commodore-inspired devices for a while, with his most recent being the 64x. He is listed as the Co-Founder and COO of Simpson’s new version of Commodore.
Simpson has said in a previous YouTube video that he envisions a future where those who admire the brand can work together instead of fighting. He also doesn’t plan on indiscriminately targeting people using the name.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going to go all Nintendo and sue you just for mentioning the name Commodore. What we are doing is streamlining the usage of the brand and the logo.”
So far, Simpson has released the Ultimate, and started a dedicated YouTube channel for Commodore to help separate it from his usual work as Peri Fractic. He’s also, through his official website, inviting applications from angel investors, Commodore programmers, those who own licences to classic Commodore games, and retailers from major chains.
