The rescue of the Amico: Intellivision relies on job cuts and license sales

Intellivision is trying to save the Amico and had to take drastic measures to ensure that the family console can appear as planned.

How can things continue with the Intellivision Amico?

In an email sent to pre-orderers of the small console, CEO Phil Adam details the steps the company is taking to continue funding the development of the Amico. The small console that Judith and I have already tested was originally supposed to be launched in October 2020.

“We drastically reduced operating costs, which unfortunately required a significant reduction in staff,” writes Adam. “Our resources are focused on development and testing to ensure we have a high quality system as we cannot be successful by producing less.”

Furthermore, Intellivision wants to sell licenses to developers so that they can publish their games on other platforms. According to Adam, such license agreements help to “finance the further development of Amico”.

“Broader distribution of Intellivision classics will also help increase awareness of Intellivision without directly competing with Amico because of Amico’s unique controllers and family-oriented game adaptations,” said the CEO.

Customers are slowly losing faith in the console

However, this does not help against the many cancellations of the pre-order. There is also another problem here, because Intellivision simply processes the applications too slowly due to the volume.

“Public uncertainty about our status over the past few months has understandably led to an influx of pre-order refund requests,” admits Adam. “Due to reduced headcount and funding requirements to continue business operations, there has been a delay in responding and processing these applications.”

However, Adam promises that Intellivision will honor any requests. A portion of the newly gained financial resources is to be used to reduce this very reimbursement queue.

For now, the company is still sticking to its plans to release the console. As Adam explains, the Amico is currently in test production “which includes every aspect of the product including the packaging”. He also says that it is “vitally important” to show customers, partners and future investors that Amico is a solid platform.