How It Worked
The Activision Patch Program was a player reward and community-building initiative running approximately 1981–1984. The mechanism was elegantly simple in the pre-internet era:
- Achieve a qualifying score (or meet a specific challenge) in a participating Activision game
- Photograph your television screen showing the qualifying score with a real camera
- Mail the photograph (and any required form) to Activision’s California headquarters
- Activision verified the achievement and mailed back a custom embroidered sew-on patch and a personalised congratulatory letter
The letters were not form letters. They were written in character. The Pitfall! patch letter was written as Pitfall Harry himself. The letter author was often identified as Jan Marsella, who appears in various letters as “Game Chairman,” “Membership Chairman,” “Activision Olympic Committee Chairman,” “Commander-in-Chief,” and “Keeper of the Light.”
Complete Atari 2600 Patch List
All 43 patches across the Atari 2600 programme, with qualifying requirements. Multi-tier achievements are grouped together.
| Game | Club / Patch Name | Qualifying Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Barnstorming | Flying Aces | Under 33.3s (game 1) / 51.0s (game 2) / 54.0s (game 3) |
| Beamrider | Beamriders (top half of moon) | 60,000 pts AND reach Sector 20 |
| Chopper Command | Chopper Commandos | 10,000 pts |
| Crackpots | Crackpots | 75,000 pts |
| Decathlon | Bronze | 8,600 pts |
| Decathlon | Silver | 9,000 pts |
| Decathlon | Gold | 10,000 pts |
| Dolphin | Friends of the Dolphins | 80,000 pts |
| Dolphin | Secret Society of the Dolphins | 300,000 pts |
| Dragster | World Class Dragster Club | Under 6.0 seconds |
| Enduro | Roadbusters | Survive 5 game days |
| Freeway | Save the Chicken Foundation | 20 pts (game 3 or game 7) |
| Frostbite | Frostbite Bailey’s Arctic Architects | 40,000 pts |
| Grand Prix | Grand Prix Driving Team | Under 0:35 (game 1) / 1:00 (game 2) / 1:30 (game 3) / 2:30 (game 4) |
| H.E.R.O. | Order of the H.E.R.O. | 75,000 pts |
| Ice Hockey | All-Star Hockey Team | Beat the computer |
| Kaboom! | The Activision Bucket Brigade | 3,000 pts |
| Keystone Kapers | Billy Club | 35,000 pts |
| Laser Blast | Commander Activision Federation | 100,000 pts |
| Laser Blast | 1,000,000 Stripe | 1,000,000 pts |
| Megamania | Megamaniacs | 45,000 pts |
| Oink! | Oinkers | 25,000 pts |
| Pitfall! | Explorer’s Club | 20,000 pts |
| Pitfall II: Lost Caverns | Cliff Hangers | 99,000 pts |
| Plaque Attack | The No Plaque Pack | 35,000 pts |
| Pressure Cooker | Short-Order Squad | 45,000 pts |
| Private Eye | Super Sleuth | Solve Case 3 |
| River Raid | River Raiders | 15,000 pts |
| Robot Tank | Medal of Merit | 4 squadrons / 48 tanks |
| Robot Tank | Cross of Excellence | 5 squadrons / 60 tanks |
| Robot Tank | Star of Honor | 6 squadrons / 72 tanks |
| Seaquest | Sub Club | 50,000 pts |
| Skiing | Official Member Activision Ski Team | Under 28.2 seconds (game 3) |
| Sky Jinks | Activision Sky Stars | Under 37.0 seconds (game 1) |
| Space Shuttle | Space Shuttle Pilot | 4 or 5 missions with 4,500 fuel remaining |
| Space Shuttle | Space Shuttle Commander | 6 missions with 7,500 fuel remaining |
| Spider Fighter | Spider Fighters | 40,000 pts |
| Stampede | Trail Drive | 3,000 pts |
| Starmaster | Order of the Supreme Starmaster | 3,800 pts (game 1) |
| Starmaster | Leader | 5,700 pts (game 2) |
| Starmaster | Wing Commander | 7,600 pts (game 3) |
| Starmaster | Starmaster | 9,000 pts (game 4) |
| Tennis | (Tennis patch) | Win one set vs. computer |
Community Impact
The patch program was a remarkably effective early form of player engagement and brand loyalty. It created:
- A sense of exclusive club membership with named organisations - the Explorer’s Club, the River Raiders, the Activision Bucket Brigade
- A tangible, real-world reward for in-game achievement - predating digital achievement systems by two decades
- Personal connection with developers through the congratulatory letters
- A reason to push gameplay beyond casual completion
- Word-of-mouth marketing as patch recipients showed off their achievements
At Activision’s peak in 1983, designers were receiving an estimated 12,000 fan letters per week. The patch program was a direct driver of this engagement - players wrote not just to congratulate themselves but to share their experiences, ask for tips, and feel part of a community.
The program ran until approximately 1984, ending partly due to the video game crash reducing revenues, and partly because Activision’s focus shifted to home computer platforms. No equivalent program would emerge in the industry until Xbox Achievements launched in 2005 - more than 20 years later.