Nostalgia Sells: New Commodore 64 Shifts More Than 10,000 Units in Two Months
- Commodore has sold 10,000+ pre-orders of the new C64 Ultimate since July.
- The FPGA-based machine adds Wi-Fi, USB, and licensed games while keeping classic spirit.
- Team includes original engineers; Amiga reunion is being explored.
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Back to The Future
Commodore, once a juggernaut of home computing, fell out of favor in the nineties and became embroiled in a confusing legal battle between license holders. However, the brand is once again on the rise under the new leadership of Peri Fractic (Chris Simpson) and his team of veteran Commodore staff.
The updated version of Commodore unveiled three variants of a brand new C64, dubbed the Ultimate, in July this year: a classic beige version, one with LED lights inside, and a Founders variant which includes gold-plated parts. Now, the official X account has revealed that over 10,000 units have been sold via pre-order.
“On behalf of the entire Commodore team, a HUGE THANK YOU goes out to you, our incredible community,” Fractic posted on Sept. 21. “Hitting 10K pre-orders of the Commodore 64 Ultimate is only possible because of your passion and support.”
“Together, we’re not just reliving history, we’re building the future together. Welcome to the future we were promised!”
The White Elephant in The Room
Commodore posted an image (below) along with the tweet, that shows a few points in the pre-orders corresponding to YouTube videos. Fractic has been fairly active over the last few months on there, as he ran a short series of videos following his plan to acquire the brand, and then his plans on how he intends to use it.
Commodore has a messy history, with its brand diluted across multiple licensees and purported rights holders, but Fractic’s version is the only one that has combined all 47 original trademarks under one roof. He signed the official handover papers in the Netherlands at the start of August.
There are dissenting voices online that claim this new version of Commodore is like all the others, in terms of trying to make money from a once-reputable name: “Surely all the small C64 hardware and software developers have been building the future for the past 30 years. You are just cashing in with an existing repackaged product and white elephant name purchase,” said one user on X, with this echoed on other social media platforms.
Fractic has chosen to refute these claims by assembling a top team that includes Al Charpentier (the chief designer and leader of the engineering team that developed the Commodore 64’s VIC-II video chip, as well as the earlier VIC-20’s video component) and Leonard Tramiel (who helped create Commodore with his father, Jack). Fractic has also involved people with deep ties to the C64 community, such as Sean Donohue (who was working on officially licensed products).
The Future is Now
The Commodore 64 Ultimate is neither a strict replication nor outright emulation. Instead, it’s built from an FPGA core that closely resembles the original motherboard, but adds in a bunch of modern conveniences, such as Wi-Fi and USB capabilities.
When asked on X whether the Ultimate supports copying of game data via USB, this was confirmed with “It is and with each variant we will be including a 64GB USB Cassette Drive ‘The Very Second’ which will come with full games including licensed classics, plus music, and demos (rated PEGI 3 provisional).” The full list of games is due to be revealed soon.
Fractic’s whole deal with the revitalized Commodore is that it’s looking to the past to innovate for the future: “The commercial power of nostalgia is real – and it will help fuel and fund the development of modern, forward-facing products in turn. It’s a symbiotic cycle: retro inspires, modern sustains. Commodore isn’t returning. It’s evolving, with purpose.”
This also extends to how he views Commodore, as a brand, being used by others. Things such as fan videos won’t be crushed by his legal team, and anyone looking to license from Fractic will be able to go through an official pipeline and sell branded products, with a straightforward 6.4% of net sales going to Commodore.
Lastly, a lot of people have raised the question of Amiga. This was an initial sub-brand of Commodore, but has since experienced its own complicated legal issues. However, this hasn’t stopped Fractic, who posted his plans on the official Commodore site.
“We’re in open dialogue with the most relevant rights holder to explore a potential reunion, and techno-optimism is in the air. Commodore and Amiga belong together in spirit, and we hope to make that true in practice as well. We’re just waiting for them to give the green light and let the fun begin.”
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