Ted Dabney to help the Dabneys resettle, but it was cancelled after Dabney confirmed that he didn't need it. After his departure from Atari, Dabney did not receive much publicity, and until 2009, his contributions towards Atari and the early days of video games were generally forgotten. Dabney reappeared in 2009, following an announcement made by Paramount Pictures the previous year that they were going to make a biographical film based on Nolan Bushnell, but had never approached Dabney for any input. Dabney gave an interview with video game historian Leonard Herman in "Edge" that described his contributions towards Atari, and acknowledged
Ted Dabney about ten years before deciding to leave the industry. Dabney had married, and later divorced, Joan Wahrmund, with whom he had two daughters. He later married Carolyn Dabney. After leaving the computer industry, Dabney and Carolyn managed a grocery store and later a deli in Crescent Mills, California. Around 2006, they moved from California to a property he owned near Okanogan National Forest in Washington. The Dabneys later returned to California, taking up residence in Clearlake, a city north of San Francisco. Their house was completely destroyed in the Clayton Fire in August 2016. A GoFundMe account was set up