Atari Announces Breakout Beyond

Breakout was one of the earliest hit video games, introduced in 1978 when controlling a rectangular paddle to deflect a square ball was still cutting-edge. But you shouldn’t sell it short — all these years later, Breakout is still as addicting as it ever was, and Atari is bringing it back with Breakout Beyond.

The main twist this time is that the original Breakout was a vertically oriented game (with a sideways CRT monitor), but this version will turn the game on its side. Often, you’ll be trying to deflect more than one ball at once. A combo score system has been added, along with special bricks that trigger various effects. There will be 72 levels in Breakout Beyond, plus a two player co-op mode.

Those of you who feel you’ve seen this game once before (this SPECIFIC game, not Breakout in general) are somehow very clued into obscure and doomed get-rich-quick schemes. Breakout Beyond was originally announced in 2020 for the Intellivision Amico console — a complete disaster of a project ruled by incompetence and false promises. Look it up sometime if you want to amuse yourself. Point is Atari didn’t want Breakout Beyond to die with the Amico, and obtained the rights to develop it themselves. (They also bought the Intellivision brand from the rubble, so now Atari and Intellivision are one.)

“We’re thrilled to be able to bring this gem to our players,” says Ethan Stearns, Atari’s senior director of games publishing. “The team thought it was a brilliant concept, preserving the heart of Breakout’s gameplay while also giving the formula a completely new spin. Breakout Beyond is a worthy new entry into the Breakout pantheon, and we can’t wait to see the insane combos brick-breakers will make.”

Watch for Breakout Beyond sometime this march on all the systems: PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X and S, Xbox One, PC, and Atari’s own VCS.