Breakout is a 1976 action video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for arcades; in Japan, it was released by Namco. The arcade version of Breakout uses a monochrome display underneath a translucent colored overlay.

The Story Behind Breakout

Oman, then-Court of Appeals Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg held that the work satisfied the legal standard for originality, affirming that Breakout was copyrightable. His efficient hardware design resulted in a chip reduction bonus of $5,000, a reward that Jobs kept secret from Wozniak. Al Alcorn was assigned as the Breakout project manager, and development began with Cyan Engineering in 1975.

The sequel features three distinct game modes with multi-ball gameplay. Near the end of development, Wozniak contemplated positioning the high score display at the top of the monitor, but Jobs stated that Bushnell specifically wanted it at the bottom; Wozniak remained unaware of the truth of Jobs' claims. In 1996, Atari released Breakout 2000 for the Atari Jaguar, adding a 3D playfield alongside simultaneous multiplayer options and power-ups.

How Breakout Plays

The highest score achievable by one player in a single game is 896 points, attained by clearing two full screens worth 448 points each. The original arcade cabinet of Breakout features artwork framing the game's premise as a prison escape. Because of how two-player mode manages internal screen memory, an additional scoring quirk exists: if a player completes the first screen on their final turn and the ball is subsequently lost, the cleared screen status transfers to the second player as an extra board, allowing a theoretical maximum score of 1,344 points before the game concludes.

The artwork depicts the player character as a prison inmate attempting to shatter a brick wall of their cell by hitting a ball and chain with a mallet. Ball speed increases at specific intervals: after four hits, after twelve hits, and after making contact with the orange and red rows. Breakout begins with eight rows of bricks, with two rows each of a different color.

Why Players Still Load It Up

Breakout spawned an extensive genre of clones. On the first annual Game Machine arcade revenue chart, Breakout ranked as the fourth highest-grossing arcade video game of 1976 in Japan, behind Taito's Ball Park (Tornado Baseball) and Speed Race DX, and Sega's Heavyweight Champ. In Japan, this genre became known as block kuzushi ("block breaker") games.

In a 1989 retrospective evaluation of console games, UK gaming journal Computer and Video Games reviewed the Atari VCS version, giving it a 24% score. Ten years after its arcade release, the block-breaking concept gained renewed popularity with Taito's 1986 game Arkanoid, which introduced power-ups and distinct enemies and led to numerous imitators. In addition, an estimated 40,000 unofficial pirated arcade units were illegally sold by the Yakuza in Asia after they made a deal with Namco.

Breakout — Frequently Asked Questions