Official product image of the Commodore 77: yellow breadbin case, black keyboard, metal plate and four yellow function keys

C77 // FUTURE LAB // 2027

77 MHz.
What shall we build with it?

The Commodore 77 is more than just a striking special edition. The larger FPGA and the announced speed raise an intriguing question: What would software have to look like to not only support this machine, but visibly push it to its limits?

Load project ideas ↓ Official Announcement ↗

Official product image: © 2026 Commodore International Corporation / CD PROJEKT RED

STATUS: CONCEPT PHASE◆HARDWARE: DELIVERY ANNOUNCED EARLY 2027◆GOAL: OWN SOFTWARE

Verified / As of 2026-08-27

What is officially confirmed

SYS 77

Commodore describes the C77 as the first special edition of the Commodore 64 Ultimate, developed with CD PROJEKT RED. The following details are from the official announcement – not from wishlists or forums.

77 MHz

Announced Peak

Commodore suggests a speed of up to 77 MHz. At the same time, high C64 compatibility remains a stated goal.

100T

Larger Artix-7

The C77 uses an AMD Artix XC7A100T. According to Commodore, the regular Commodore 64 Ultimate uses the smaller 50T.

99.9%+

C64 Compatibility

Compatibility with more than 10,000 existing C64 games and old as well as new peripherals has been announced.

2027

Early Delivery

The start of delivery is announced for early 2027. Pre-order price: 377 US Dollars.

Important: "Up to 77 MHz" is a manufacturer announcement. Which turbo registers, firmware interfaces, and stable clock stages the production units actually offer must be verified on real hardware after delivery.
Official product image of the Commodore 77 from an angled top view with adapted key labels and brushed metal surface
Official product image © Commodore / CD PROJEKT RED · Pre-production image, final details may change.

Interface / visibly adapted

The keyboard already tells a story.

The basic layout is reminiscent of the C64, but the labeling is consistently translated into the world of Night City. Official images show labels such as DAEMON, PURGE ORIGIN, INJECT/WIPE, REBOOT, EXECUTE, and ALTER.

To the right is a brushed metal surface with four large yellow buttons. Added to this are the artificially aged case, a turquoise glowing status indicator, and colored LEDs in the transparent base. This feels less like a museum piece – and more like a terminal demanding its own software.

Test Bench 01 / own development

1 MHz is our baseline.

RUN 0001
Labor-77 benchmark on a C64 without turbo with measured values for memory, screen build-up, color RAM, sound, pathfinding, and REU
Own Labor-77 test run · C64 mode without turbo · Screenshot: Marcel / Retro-Modern

INPUT: C64 // TURBO: OFF // BASELINE: LOCKED

A measurement track instead of a gut feeling.

The first run deliberately operates in C64 mode without turbo. After calibration, the routine counts typical tasks for two seconds: copying memory pages, unpacking data, building screen and color RAM, mixing sound, searching paths, and retrieving data from the REU.

Later, the same course will run on the existing Ultimate 64, the Turbo Chameleon 64 and finally on the C77. This turns "faster" into a visible, reproducible comparison – and a game idea into a real lab project.

Regarding the display: The 48 MHz line is a reference mark of the routine. The run shown itself clearly reports "C64, no turbo" and is not yet a C77 result.
  1. 01
    C64 · 1 MHzBaseline captured
  2. 10
    SuperCPU · 20 MHzTechnical samples captured
  3. 11
    Ultimate 64 · TurboNext comparison
  4. 100
    TC64 · 6510 turboCompatibility and performance test pending
  5. 101
    Commodore 77 · up to 77 MHzGoal after delivery

Test Bench 02 / SuperCPU 20 MHz

20 MHz opens the corridor.

RUN 0010

Two small routines mark the next stage between the 1 MHz baseline and the later C77: a visible geometry sample and a computer-in-computer test. No extrapolation, but real screen values from the current 20 MHz run.

SuperCPU technical test POLYGON with a filled gray cube and the measured value of 102 frames in two seconds
Own technical test · SuperCPU 20 MHz · Screenshot: Marcel / Retro-Modern

POLYGON // FILLED CUBE

102 frames in 2 seconds

A filled cube is not yet cyberspace – but a clean sample for screen build-up, surfaces, and reproducible render time. This is exactly what can later become a corridor of ICE structures.

SuperCPU technical test NETZ, where an emulated 6502 achieves 188 guest runs and 564,000 emulated cycles per second in 100 raster frames
Own technical test · SuperCPU 20 MHz · Screenshot: Marcel / Retro-Modern

NETZ // COMPUTER IN COMPUTER

188 guest runs / 100 raster frames

A 6502 emulates a 6502. The routine reports 564,000 emulated cycles per second. The displayed 985,248 cycles are its C64 reference mark – not a measured C77 value.

Early BREACH game screen with the node ARASAKA Door 4, hex data, ICE status, and the commands Mine, Spoof, Ghost, and Icepick
BREACH · first system screen · Screenshot: Marcel / Retro-Modern

BREACH / first system contact

Measurement code becomes game code.

BREACH no longer exists only as a headline. The first system screen already translates the lab idea into a readable hacker situation.

The node ARASAKA / TÜR 4 shows hex data, ICE across 71 cells, an open door, and a trace of 22 percent. Below lie the tools: Mine, Spoof, Ghost, and Icepick – plus Execute, Inject, and Wipe.

This closes the three levels: POLYGON tests visible geometry, NETZ tests computing logic within the computer, and BREACH turns this into a game plot. The later C77 mode is not intended to replace this basis, but to visibly expand it.

NODE: ARASAKA/4DOOR: OPENTRACE: 22%
Open BREACH workshop file →

Retro-Modern / possible projects

Three ways into the net

IDEAS READY.
01

Favorite / first system screen ready

BREACH ’77

A Netrunner hacking game where computing power is not just a technical number – but your survival time. The first terminal prototype is already visible in the lab.

You jack into a foreign system. Black ICE begins the pursuit. A procedurally generated vector corridor of nodes, firewalls, and data traps grows before you. The faster you analyze, hack, and reroute, the longer the distance to the pursuer remains.

To the playable prototype and workshop status →

1 MHz

Compatible base mode with reduced representation – the classic C64 remains part of the design.

Turbo

More geometry, greater visibility, denser ICE structures, and smoother movement.

77 MHz

The full showcase mode: the additional computing time becomes immediately visible on the screen.

02 / Arcade Showcase

Neon Grid Racer

A light-cycle and escape game over a wireframe grid. Frame rate, visibility, and complexity scale with the active clock – ideal as an instantly understandable before-and-after effect.

  • Wireframe
  • Tempo
  • Highscore

03 / FABULA Spin-off

Cyberspace Nodes

FABULA's room and script logic remains, but the painted rooms give way to a vector renderer. “Take / Open / Use” becomes “Hack / Bypass / Decrypt”.

  • FABULA
  • Vector
  • Story

Feasibility / measure first, promise later

The clock must become part of the design.

Ultimate 64 systems possess programmable turbo control; existing demos already show 48 MHz code. However, it is not yet documented for the C77 whether the same registers and settings remain unchanged up to 77 MHz.

  1. 01
    Cleanly identify hardware

    Normal C64, Ultimate, and C77 paths must be clearly distinguished.

  2. 02
    Explicitly enable turbo

    The fast mode must never be assumed; a stable 1 MHz path remains mandatory.

  3. 03
    Respect VIC and I/O

    More CPU time does not automatically make video and bus timing arbitrarily fast.

  4. 04
    Test on production hardware

    Only real measured values will decide which of the ideas becomes a game and which remains just an experiment.

Official scene with Commodore 77, monitor, joysticks, and illuminated desk in cyberpunk style
Official product image © Commodore / CD PROJEKT RED

To be continued

From concept to real diskette.

Until hardware delivery, there is time for renderer prototypes, clock measurements on the existing Ultimate 64 and Turbo Chameleon 64, and the question of which concept truly holds up. This page will become a development log as soon as ideas turn into code.

View C77 at Commodore ↗ Discover FABULA Development on YouTube ↗

Retro-Modern is not affiliated with Commodore International Corporation or CD PROJEKT RED. Commodore, Cyberpunk, and Cyberpunk 2077 are trademarks of their respective owners. The product images are from the official Commodore announcement and are used here for editorial reporting.

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