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Amid all of the hoo-haa surrounding Commodore's divisive Callback 8020 announcement, I'm ashamed to say there was another piece of Commodore-related news that took place this month that is arguably more exciting – but I missed it completely.
Earlier in June, Commodore International CEO Christian Simpson revealed that he had travelled to Italy to meet with Mike Battilana, the owner of the Amiga IP. You see, while Commodore has recently been revived by Simpson, the resurrected company doesn't own the rights to the Amiga, as those were split off back in 1999.
While many were tempted to speculate that Commodore International's June 16th announcement was Amiga-related (it turned out to be a flip-phone), the company can't do anything with the IP without first cutting a deal with Battilana.
Simpson reveals that he took John Errico (General Counsel) and Alex Rozenblat (CFO) to Italy for the meeting. "Amiga was of course on our minds," he explains. "Just as it has been on mine since I got my Amiga 500 in the late 80s, then an Amiga 1200, then Amiga 4000, then… the lights dimmed at Commodore in 1994. Today, we have a chance to bring all of that magic back, and for me, Amiga was half of what made Commodore magical anyway."
Simpson admits that a deal hasn't been struck yet, but he seems pretty positive that one will eventually be reached. "We started the conversation in Northern Italy," he says. "We continued it in Venice. We haven’t finished it yet. Not even close. But Mike said this: 'I feel sure we will do something together. There is light at the end of the tunnel, at last.' I couldn’t have put it better myself."
He adds:
"And so the trip, and talks, were over – for now. We vowed to continue them by Zoom, and again in person. And we have. I’m proud of that. I’m proud of my team for helping get us this far. I’m proud of Mike for how he’s protected Amiga all these years. And I’m proud Alex’s face is obscured in almost every photo.
Someday I am sure we will make that announcement. That belongs to the retro pillar that today’s Commodore is built on. But for now, our June 16th launch belongs to the future pillar; Commodore finally, boldly picking up where we left off after those lights dimmed in the 90s, ready to enter its Y2K era, at the exact time the world is ready to go back to that simpler tech. Maybe it’s serendipity. Or maybe, just maybe, the world needs what Commodore is doing now, more than it needs Amiga."