Despite selling 1.5 million copies , the sales figures came nowhere near Atari 's expectations , as it had ordered production of five million copies , with many of the sold games returned to Atari for refunds by consumers who were dissatisfied with the game . It had become an urban legend that Atari had buried the unsold cartridges of '' E.T. '' and other games in a landfill in Alamogordo , New Mexico , which was confirmed in 2014 when the site was allowed to be excavated , with former Atari personnel affirming they had dumped about 800,000 cartridges , including '' E.T. '' and other poorly-selling ( and best-selling ) games . The financial figures and business tactics surrounding this product are emblematic of the video game crash of 1983 and contributed to Atari 's bankruptcy . Atari paid $ 25 million for the license to produce the game , which further contributed to a debt of $ 536 million ( equivalent to $ billion today ) . The company was divided and sold in 1984
Atari had buried the unsold cartridges
Atari video game burial
List of commercial failures in video gaming