between 4 and 5 million copies were produced (depending on the source) as Atari anticipated big christmas sales on the game, which eventually sold around 1.5 million copies...3.5 million were returned as unsold, or returned by disappointed customers.
"E.T. met with initial commercial success. It was among the top four on
Billboard magazine's "Top 15 Video Games" sales list in December 1982 and January 1983. The game eventually sold 1.5 million units, becoming one of the best-selling Atari 2600 titles. However, between 2.5 and 3.5 million cartridges went unsold. Hubner and Kistner commented that the large number of produced cartridges would have resulted in excess inventory regardless of
E.T. 's success. Even though the game was a best seller during the holiday season, retailers still stated that its sales figures did not meet expectations. Warner Communications also expressed disappointment at the number of sales. Lower than expected sales figures combined with excess inventory, which produced a negative supply and demand event, prompted retailers to repeatedly discount price. Former
J. C. Penney employee Al Nilsen mentioned that his copy of the game was discounted five times from US$49.95 to less than a dollar. According to Ray Kassar, about 3.5 million of the 4 million produced were sent back to the company as unsold inventory or customer returns. Despite sales figures, the quantity of unsold merchandise, coupled with the expensive movie license and the large amount of returns, made
E.T. a major financial failure for Atari.
Next Generation Magazine reported that Atari grossed US$25 million in sales, but netted a loss of US$100 million due to overproduction and returns. By 2004, the cartridges were still very common and priced at very low amounts."
Despite being a very poor port, PacMan sold ridiculously well (7m copies) and Atari was riding that high.
