Atari 800XL: trademark registration revives rumors of a return of the 8-bit micro

Atari continues its in-depth work on its heritage. The company Atari Interactive has just filed a trademark application for the name 800XL with the USPTO, covering home video game machines. An approach that does not go unnoticed in the retrogaming community.

The Atari 800XL is an 8-bit microcomputer launched in 1983, successor to the Atari 400 and 800. Its popularity in Europe and the United States has made it a cult machine, particularly appreciated for its graphics and sound capabilities superior to many of its contemporaries. It was part of the Atari 8-bit line which also included the 1200XL and 65XE.

This trademark registration comes as Atari has already released several "mini console" type products in recent years, including the Atari 400 Mini in 2024. Logic would dictate that the 800XL would be the next in the series, potentially with a design restoring the original form factor of the complete computer (with its integrated keyboard).

Please note, however: a trademark registration is not a product announcement. Atari regularly protects its assets without this necessarily leading to an exit. But in the current context where the company led by Wade Rosen is clearly banking on nostalgia and retrogaming, all the signals are green to hope for a revival of the 800XL.

To be continued, certainly before the end of 2026.

Source: Time Extension - GamesRadar