J Allard, the onetime Microsoft executive who was a co-founder of Xbox, left Intellivision Entertainment last year, shortly after joining that company to be global managing director.
News of Allard being lured back into the video game industry made a splash in May 2020, as he was brought on at Intellivision to work on the Intellivision Amico, a new game console with a retro look and feel first announced in 2018 and intended to make gaming a family friendly affair again.
Allard told GeekWire on Monday that he left last summer.
“No drama, just not a good fit,” he said, adding that he is still looking forward to seeing how the market responds when Amico launches later this year.
The Geek Getaway posted a YouTube video at the end of January commenting on Allard removing any mention of Intellivision from his LinkedIn. The video has a pinned comment from Intellivision CEO Tommy Tallarico, in which the Intellivision CEO said in part: “J Allard was a contractor who worked for us as we were finalizing the hardware design. He has his own company which is why he was never a full-time employee. He is still an advisor to this day as needed.”
We’ve followed up with Allard for any additional comment and will update when we hear back.
Allard was at Microsoft from 1991 to 2010, and as chief experience officer and chief technology officer of the Entertainment and Devices Division, he co-founded Xbox, Xbox Live, Live Arcade and Xbox 360 among the more than 40 products he launched.
His role at Intellivision was intended to “provide invaluable insights to support the final development” of the new console, tapping into Allard’s “deep knowledge in user experience, operating systems, game certification, and building ecosystems” the company said last May.
“I’ve believed since the earliest days of Xbox that approachable family content has been under-serviced by the industry,” Allard said Monday. “Not much has changed since (in the console world). There’s a lot of ‘family friendly’ and ‘safe’ titles out there, but that’s different than games that engage everyone in a household. While the art, tech and language of video games has evolved enormously since ‘Pong,’ that progression has pushed a lot of folks out along the way.”
Allard said mobile has certainly stepped in with a huge library of simple and approachable content, but it’s on the small screen — and largely single player experiences. He remains passionate about the concept of a family or group of friends engaging together around the TV with interactive experiences.
“That aspect of what Intellivision is trying to do is what I find most exciting about the project,” he said, wishing Intellivision success.
Allard hinted at excitement over his own projects, including an idea in development with his brother, Ed Allard, the gaming veteran who was co-founder of Sprout Games and eventually head of worldwide studios at EA / PopCap Games.
Allard said his brother just wrapped up Space Otter Charlie — “and we’ve been writing some code and kicking around ideas. I’ve always wanted to create something with him and now might be the right time for it.”
In addition, Allard is still running 529 Garage, a community-powered service aimed at beating back bicycle theft.
