Reputation: The graphics card legend 3dfx is re-emerging

In the 90s, graphics cards signed 3dfx were the hottest thing to run 3D graphics, where the Voodoo family is perhaps the company’s most well-known product family. Around the turn of the millennium, however, the company fell behind and went bankrupt in 2002. Arch-rival Nvidia bought large parts of the bankruptcy estate, but that has not stopped technology geeks from continuing to pay tribute to the 3dfx creations. Based on remnants of circles, Voodoo 5,6000 has resurfaced, while book and contract projects are other examples of tributes.

Twitter now suggests that the company 3dfx Interactive is waking up from the dead, after a nearly two decades absence. A newly created account with a username that claims to be an official one, announces that a big news is to be expected on Thursday 5 August. More details are left to the imagination. If the message is genuine, it is more likely that 3dfx or Voodoo as a name will return, rather than the graphics card market getting an extra player.

Among the comments to the Twitter post, a healthy dose of skepticism is expressed and the advertising should be taken with a handful of salt. Sharp-eyed Twitter users also note that the image used in the post is a variant created by a 3dfx craze and that it has been published on the Deviantart website since 2014. This further lowers the credibility of a real comeback, in addition to the fact that Nvidia holds rights to the near-ancient technologies and probably also to associated brands.

The same account also delivers a follow-up post with a picture of a whole pile of Voodoo packaging and a promise that they will return. It is unclear if the colorful design is referred to, or if it is the old graphics cards on the inside. A guess as good as any is that the nostalgia surrounding the company is used, for a return in the form of collectibles or the like.

With 5 August a few days away, the period of uncertainty is short anyway. On Thursday, it may be time to keep your eyes open for more messages from the legendary graphics card maker, or alternatively the people who pretend to be 3dfx.

Do you have any nostalgic 3dfx memories? In what way did you want to see the legend come to life? Tell us in the comments thread!