Editing Commodore 64 (section)

=== 1984–1987 ===
{{Blockquote|Some of the graphics modes on the 64 are really strange, and they have no analogs to the Atari or Apple, like the ability to change color of the character basis across the screen. That gave us a lot of color capability that had not been exploited.|Craig Nelson of Epyx, 1986{{r|Yakal198606}}}}

With sales booming and the early reliability issues with the hardware addressed, software for the C64 began to grow in size and ambition during 1984. This growth shifted to the primary focus of most US game developers. The two holdouts were [[Sierra Entertainment|Sierra]], who largely skipped over the C64 in favor of Apple and PC-compatible machines, and [[Broderbund]], who were heavily invested in educational software and developed primarily around the Apple II. In the North American market, the disk format had become nearly universal while cassette and cartridge-based software all but disappeared. Most US-developed games by this point grew large enough to require multi-loading from disk.

At a mid-1984 conference of game developers and experts at [[Origins Game Fair]], [[Dan Bunten]], [[Sid Meier]], and a representative of [[Avalon Hill]] said that they were developing games for the C64 first as the most promising market.<ref name="cgw198410">{{cite magazine | title=The CGW Computer Game Conference | magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] | date=October 1984 | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1984&pub=2&id=18 | access-date=October 31, 2013 | page=30 | type=panel discussion}}</ref> By 1985, games were an estimated 60 to 70% of Commodore 64 software.<ref name="128book">{{cite book | chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/The_Official_Book_for_the_Commodore_128#page/n91/mode/2up | title=The Official Book for the Commodore 128 Personal Computer | publisher=Howard W. Sams & Co. | last1=Waite | first1=Mitchell | last2=Lafore | first2=Robert | last3=Volpe | first3=Jerry | year=1985 | page=80 | isbn=0-672-22456-9 | chapter=The C64 Mode}}</ref> ''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' stated in January 1985 that companies such as [[Epyx]] that survived the video game crash did so because they "jumped on the Commodore bandwagon early".<ref name="jacobs198501">{{cite magazine | title=An Agent Looks at the Software Industry | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=January 1985 | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1985&pub=2&id=20 | access-date=October 31, 2013 | last=Jacobs | first=Bob | page=18}}</ref> Over 35% of [[Strategic Simulations|SSI]]'s 1986 sales were for the C64, ten points higher than for the Apple&nbsp;II. The C64 was even more important for other companies,<ref name="maher20160318">{{cite web | url=http://www.filfre.net/2016/03/opening-the-gold-box-part-3-from-tabletop-to-desktop/ | title=Opening the Gold Box, Part 3: From Tabletop to Desktop | publisher=The Digital Antiquarian | date=March 18, 2016 | access-date=March 19, 2016 | author=Maher, Jimmy}}</ref> which often found that more than half the sales for a title ported to six platforms came from the C64 version.<ref name="maher20150619">{{cite web | url=http://www.filfre.net/2015/06/the-evolution-of-the-epyx-games/ | title=The Evolution of the (Epyx) Games | publisher=The Digital Antiquarian | date=June 19, 2015 | access-date=March 19, 2016 | last=Maher | first=Jimmy}}</ref> That year, ''Computer Gaming World'' published a survey of ten game publishers that found that they planned to release forty-three Commodore 64 games that year, compared to nineteen for Atari and forty-eight for Apple&nbsp;II,<ref name="cgw198604">{{cite magazine | title=Survey of Game Manufacturers | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=April 1986 | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1986&pub=2&id=27 | access-date=November 1, 2013 | page=32}}</ref> and [[Alan Miller (game designer)|Alan Miller]] stated that [[Accolade, Inc.|Accolade]] developed first for the C64 because "it will sell the most on that system".<ref name="boosman198611">{{cite magazine | title=Designer Profiles / Alan Miller | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November 1986 | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1986&pub=2&id=32 | access-date=November 1, 2013 | author=Boosman, Frank | page=6 | type=interview}}</ref>

In Europe, the primary competitors to the C64 were British-built computers: the [[ZX Spectrum|Sinclair ZX Spectrum]], the [[BBC Micro]], and the [[Amstrad CPC 464]]. In the UK, the 48K Spectrum had not only been released a few months ahead of the C64's early 1983 debut, but it was also selling for £175, less than half the C64's £399 price. The Spectrum quickly became the market leader and Commodore had an uphill struggle against it in the marketplace. The C64 did however go on to rival the Spectrum in popularity in the latter half of the 1980s. Adjusted to the population size, the popularity of Commodore&nbsp;64 was the highest in [[Finland]] at roughly 3 units per 100 inhabitants,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2016/08/09/legendaarinen-tietokone-juhlii-tanaan-koko-elokuu-c64month |title=Legendaarinen tietokone juhlii tänään – koko elokuu on #c64month |last=Pulkkinen |first=Marko |date=August 9, 2016 |website=yle.fi |language=fi-FI |access-date=January 12, 2019}}</ref> where it was subsequently marketed as "the Computer of the Republic".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yle.fi/ohjelmat/1285543 |title=Jakso 1: Commodore 64 <nowiki>|</nowiki> Se päivä muutti Suomen |date=February 4, 2012 |website=yle.fi |language=fi-FI |access-date=July 15, 2012 |archive-date=January 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125060600/http://yle.fi/ohjelmat/1285543 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

By early 1985 the C64's price was {{US$|149|long=no}}; with an estimated production cost of {{val|p=$|35|–|50}}, its profitability was still within the industry-standard markup of two to three times.{{r|ieee85}} Commodore sold about one million C64s in 1985 and a total of 3.5 million by mid-1986. Although the company reportedly attempted to discontinue the C64 more than once in favor of more expensive computers such as the [[Commodore 128]], demand remained strong.<ref name="halfhilll198604">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1986-04-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_071_1986_Apr#page/n31/mode/2up | title=A Turning Point For Atari? | work=Compute! | date=April 1986 | access-date=November 8, 2013 | last=Halfhill | first=Tom R. | page=30}}</ref><ref name="wagner198608">{{cite magazine | title=The Commodore Key | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1986&pub=2&id=30 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=August 1986 | access-date=November 1, 2013 | last=Wagner | first=Roy | page=28}}</ref> In 1986, Commodore introduced the 64C,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/1986-08-computegazette/Compute_Gazette_Issue_38_1986_Aug#page/n0/mode/2up|title=Compute! Gazette Issue 38|date=August 1986}}</ref> a redesigned 64, which ''Compute!'' saw as evidence that—contrary to C64 owners' fears that the company would abandon them in favor of the [[Amiga]] and 128—"the 64 refuses to die".<ref name="compute198607">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1986-07-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_074_1986_Jul#page/n7/mode/2up | title=Editor's Notes | work=Compute! | date=July 1986 | access-date=November 8, 2013 |last1=Lock |first1=Robert |last2=Halfhill |first2=Tom R. | page=6}}</ref> Its introduction also meant that Commodore raised the price of the C64 for the first time, which the magazine cited as the end of the home-computer [[price war]].<ref name="leemon198702">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1987-02-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_081_1987_Feb#page/n25/mode/2up | title=Microfocus | work=Compute! | date=February 1987 | access-date=November 9, 2013 | last=Leemon |first=Sheldon | page=24}}</ref> Software sales also remained strong; [[MicroProse]], for example, in 1987 cited the Commodore and IBM PC markets as its top priorities.<ref name="brooks198711">{{cite magazine | title=Titans of the Computer Gaming World / MicroProse | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1987&pub=2&id=41 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November 1987 | access-date=November 2, 2013 | last=Brooks |first=M. Evan | page=16}}</ref>