
The retro community seems sharply divided over a decision by Commodore to lock down firmware access in its C64 Ultimate computer. In a post entitled Why We're Protecting Your Commodore 64 Ultimate FPGA, the iconic retro computing company telegraphs a change “preventing firmware not released by Commodore from being loaded onto the hardware.” This blog post seems to be designed to calm social media and forum commenters' concerns about the C64U breaking the spirit of the vibrant C64 scene, implementing an anti-tinkering change, and making a move that is really about IP control.
C64U Firmware Update | We’ve officially LOADed up a fresh upgrade to your #Commodore experience. Version 1.1.0 has arrived. Read more and download: https://t.co/fHbPohUjzE pic.twitter.com/opYJzpqYOqApril 6, 2026