The SwordQuest series was a series of 4 games developed by Atari, each one having an associated contest to win a one-of-a-kind item from the game made of real gold by finding clues in the game and using them to uncover hidden messages in the attached comic book, then coming to Atari headquarters to compete in a contest version of the respective game. The advertised prizes were:

•Talisman of Penultimate Truth, Earthworld's prize
•Chalice of Light, Fireworld's prize
•Crown of Life, Waterworld's prize
•The Philosopher's Stone, Airworld's prize
•The Sword of Ultimate Sorcery, the grand prize

Halfway through the series, the video game crash of 1983 hit, and it was put to a halt, leaving Airworld, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Sword of Ultimate Sorcery unreleased. The Chalice of Light is the only item known to still exist, with all others being believed to have been melted down at some point.

In Atari 50, a game based on Airworld would see release, though it was not based on the work done for the game back in the 1980s.

Work on an Atari ST emulator started during the development of Atari 50, but it was scrapped due to a lack of resources.

According to accounts from multiple 1970s-era Atari developers in interviews for Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, drugs were used heavily at the offices of Atari, and contributed to brainstorming for game ideas.

Warbirds was intended to be included in the base version Atari 50, but was cut at the last second - physical Switch releases of the compilation include Warbirds on the cartridge, but a day one update removed the game. Warbirds has since been reinstated.