Tommy Tallarico Steps Down As Intellivision CEO

Intellivision Entertainment’s founder and CEO Tommy Tallarico is stepping down from his position, IGN reports. Tallarico is best-known for his prolific work in video games. He purchased Intellivision and launched it again in 2018. The Amico was a console that aims to attract more casual gamers. It has been in production since its announcement nearly four years ago. 

Tallarico will continue to be with Intellivision and transition into the position of company president. Tallarico is the largest shareholder of the company. He will be replaced by Phil Adam, chief revenue officer. According to Intellivision, the statement was provided by IGN says the change was done “to better align its resources with those new challenges” regarding the Amico’s development. 

Phil Adams said in the statement, “As an industry veteran of over 30 years, I am thrilled to take on the position as CEO at Intellivision.” Tommy feels it is important that he has the right roles to continue doing the things he enjoys most, as the business closes in on its last phase. We will continue to work together to get Amico on the market, as always.

Intellivision has spent the last few years working on getting its Amico console off the ground. In October 2018, the device was revealed as a family-friendly console with twin touchscreen controllers. It is intended to be smaller and more affordable than other models. When we interviewed Tallarico during E3 2019, he explained that the Amico primarily targets casual players saying “For us, there’s three billion gamers. These people don’t consider themselves gamers. They use their phones every day. The reality is, they’re 55 percent of the entire $140 billion dollar industry.” The Amico library, which includes original titles and both classic and remastered Intellivision games, would be sold digitally, with 20 available at launch and six included with the console. Amico retails for $249.99. 

Amico suffered three delays. Intellivision blamed supply issues due to the COVID-19 epidemic. In 2019, pre-orders were open for an October 2020 launch. However, due to 6,000 first orders, the launch was delayed to April 2021. It then moved again to October 2021. The company’s website FAQ currently states Q1 2022 as its projected release window. The Amico would have until March 31st to launch, which appears unlikely. But time will prove it. 

[Source: IGN]