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Iguana Entertainment

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Iguana Entertainment
FormerlyIguana Entertainment (1991–1999)
Acclaim Studios Austin (1999–2004)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded1991 inSanta Clara,California,U.S.
FounderJeff Spangenberg
DefunctAugust 27, 2004;19 years ago(2004-08-27)
FateDissolved
Headquarters
Austin,Texas
,
U.S.
ParentAcclaim Entertainment(1995–2004)

Iguana Entertainment,later known asAcclaim Studios Austin,was an Americanvideo game developerbased inAustin, Texas.The company was founded in 1991 byJeff Spangenberg,previouslylead designerfor Punk Development, and originally located inSanta Clara, California.Iguana found first success withAero the Acro-Bat,moved to Austin and acquiredOptimus Software(later Iguana UK) in 1993. Iguana was acquired byAcclaim Entertainmentin January 1995 and received another sub-studio,Iguana West(formerly Sculptured Software) in October that year. Spangenberg was fired from his position in July 1998 and filed a lawsuit onbreach of contractthe following October. Iguana was rebranded Acclaim Studios Austin in May 1999, and the studio was closed down in August 2004, followed by theChapter 7 bankruptcyof its parent in September 2004.

History

[edit]

Prior to founding Iguana Entertainment,Jeff Spangenberg,a self-taught programmer who skipped college to pursue a programming career,[1][2]served aslead designerfor Punk Development, the development team of publisher RazorSoft.[3]In 1991, Spangenberg founded his own company inSanta Clara, California,and hired 20 staff, including friends of his.[1][2]Initially, the company did not have a name; Jay Moon, who served as development support manager for the company, explained that Spangenberg held two petiguanas,named Spike and Killer, wherefore the team settled on "Iguana Entertainment", with Spike and Killer serving as mascots for the company.[2]In 1992, Several Punk Development employees joined Iguana when the partnership between Punk and RazorSoft dissolved,[3]and Iguana hired further staff in 1993 through funding provided by publishersSunsoftandAcclaim Entertainment.[1]

Because of the high cost of living in theSan Francisco Bay Areafor Spangenberg and his employees, the company decided to move their headquarters.[1][2]Their first choice wasSeattle, Washington,which was also the location ofNintendo of America,but getting to knowTexas' expanding technology industry, several Iguana staff traveled toAustinin May 1993 to investigate the relocation possibilities in the area.[1][2]The team returned with videotape of the city'sSixth Streetentertainment district.[1][2]All but one employee agreed to move to Austin, and the relocation was completed shortly after.[1][2]Later that year, Iguana achieved its first success withAero the Acro-Batand used profits generated from the game's sales to acquireStockton-on-Tees-based[4]developerOptimus Software,which was rebranded Iguana UK.[5]

On December 21, 1994, Acclaim announced that they had agreed to acquire Iguana.[6]The deal was completed on January 4, 1995,[7]withUS$5 millionpaid in cash and additional, undisclosed payments made in stock.[8]In October 1995, Acclaim additionally acquiredSalt Lake City-basedSculptured Softwarefor$30 millionin stock,[5]which became part of Iguana under the name Iguana West in December 1997.[9][10]

Spangenberg was fired from Iguana on July 8, 1998,[2]and several undisclosed management changes at the studio were announced by Acclaim later the same month.[11]Additionally, the company was placed under Acclaim Studios, a new, decentralized management for Acclaim's development studios led by former Iguana employee Darrin Stubbington.[11]In October that year, Spangenberg filed a lawsuit against Acclaim, Acclaim co-founderGreg Fischbach,and Iguana forbreach of contractandfraud.[2][12]The suit, handled as "Jeffery Spangenberg vs. Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., Iguana Entertainment, Inc., and Gregory Fischbach", alleged that Fischbach urged Spangenberg to purchase Acclaim shares worth$25,000in February 1998, and convinced him to keep them just shortly before Spangenberg was relieved of his position, resulting in his loss ofstock options.[2][12]Spangenberg founded a new development company,Retro Studios,on October 1, 1999.[13]

In May 1999, Acclaim Studios announced that they would unify all development studios owned by the company under the same branding; as part of this move, Iguana, Iguana UK and Iguana West became Acclaim Studios Austin, Acclaim Studios Teesside and Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City, respectively.[14]When Acclaim's agreement with GMAC Commercial Finance, their primary lender, expired on August 20, 2004,[15]the company closed all of its facilities, including Acclaim Studios Austin, on August 27,[16]of which the Austin and New York studios saw all employees let go.[17]Acclaim itself filed forChapter 7 bankruptcywith theUnited States bankruptcy courtinCentral Islip, New Yorkon September 1.[18][19]

The "Iguana Entertainment" name was reused by brothers Jason and Darren Falcus, who had founded Optimus Software in February 1988,[4]when they created a studio of the same name in 2009.[20]That studio was acquired by and incorporated intoTeam17in December 2011.[5][20]

Games

[edit]
As Iguana Entertainment
Year Title Platform(s)
1992 Super High Impact Sega Genesis
1993 Aero the Acro-Bat Sega Genesis,Super Nintendo Entertainment System
1994 Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
Aero the Acro-Bat 2
The Pirates of Dark Water Sega Genesis
NBA Jam Sega CD,Sega Game Gear,Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Side Pocket Super Nintendo Entertainment System
1995 Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra
NBA Jam Tournament Edition PlayStation,Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
NFL Quarterback Club Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball Microsoft Windows,PlayStation, Sega Genesis,Sega Saturn,Super Nintendo Entertainment System
NFL Quarterback Club 96 Microsoft Windows, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
1996 College Slam Game Boy,Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
NFL Quarterback Club 97 PlayStation, Sega Saturn
Batman Forever: The Arcade Game
1997 All-Star Baseball '97 featuring Frank Thomas
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Microsoft Windows,Nintendo 64
NFL Quarterback Club 98 Nintendo 64
1998 NHL Breakaway 98
All-Star Baseball 99
Iggy's Reckin' Balls
NFL Quarterback Club 99
NHL Breakaway 99
NBA Jam 99
South Park Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64, PlayStation
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64
1999 All-Star Baseball 2000 Nintendo 64
As Acclaim Studios Austin
Year Title Platform(s)
1999 South Park: Chef's Luv Shack Dreamcast,Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64, PlayStation
Turok: Rage Wars Nintendo 64
NFL Quarterback Club 2000 Nintendo 64, Dreamcast
2000 Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Nintendo 64
2001 All-Star Baseball 2002 GameCube,PlayStation 2
NFL QB Club 2002
2002 All-Star Baseball 2003 GameCube, PlayStation 2,Xbox
Turok: Evolution GameCube, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox
2003 Vexx GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
All-Star Baseball 2004
NBA Jam PlayStation 2, Xbox
2004 All-Star Baseball 2005
Showdown: Legends of Wrestling
Cancelled The Red Star
100 Bullets

References

[edit]
  1. ^abcdefgIGN Staff (October 19, 2000)."Making Games Fun Again".ign.com.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  2. ^abcdefghij"A Retrospective: The Story of Retro Studios".ign.com.December 17, 2004.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  3. ^ab"Techno Cop – Hardcore Gaming 101".www.hardcoregaming101.net.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  4. ^ab"Falcus Brothers Complete 15 Years in Business – Timeline Event".spong.com.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  5. ^abcCaoili, Eric (December 13, 2011)."Worms Studio Team17 Amps Up Social Strategy With Iguana Acquisition".gamasutra.com.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  6. ^"Acclaim to Buy Iguana".The New York Times.Bloomberg News. December 21, 1994.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  7. ^Mills, Allyne; Harnett, Dan (January 4, 1995)."Acclaim completes acquisition of Iguana Entertainment".The Free Library.Archived fromthe originalon May 28, 2015.RetrievedJuly 27,2019.
  8. ^"The End Game: How Top Developers Sold Their Studios – Part One".gamasutra.com.March 3, 2004.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  9. ^IGN Staff (December 16, 1997)."Iguana Breaks the Ice".ign.com.RetrievedAugust 26,2018.
  10. ^IGN Staff (April 1, 1999)."Breaking into the Industry Vol. 5".ign.com.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  11. ^ab"Computer game-maker shifts personnel".www.bizjournals.com.July 30, 1998.RetrievedDecember 22,2018.
  12. ^abDial, Marla (October 4, 1998)."Iguana founder sues after firing".www.bizjournals.com.RetrievedDecember 22,2018.
  13. ^Dial, Marla (November 30, 1998)."Iguana founder goes Retro with new company".www.bizjournals.com.RetrievedDecember 22,2018.
  14. ^"Acclaim Studios Evolves into a Single Worldwide Entity; Internal Development Cornerstone of Product Success. – Free Online Library".Business Wire.Berkshire Hathaway.May 12, 1999. Archived fromthe originalon August 5, 2018.RetrievedJune 28,2019– via thefreelibrary.com.
  15. ^"Acclaim's assets to go on the auction block".www.bizjournals.com.December 8, 2004.RetrievedDecember 22,2018.
  16. ^Perry, Douglass C. (August 27, 2004)."Acclaim Closes Offices".ign.com.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  17. ^Feldman, Curt (August 31, 2004)."Acclaim shutters offices, staffers ushered off premises".gamespot.com.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  18. ^Feldman, Curt (September 1, 2004)."Acclaim bankruptcy now official".gamespot.com.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  19. ^Carless, Simon (September 2004)."Gamasutra – The Art & Business of Making Games".www.gamasutra.com.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
  20. ^ab"Team17 hires Iguana Entertainment founders".gamesindustry.biz.December 13, 2011.RetrievedAugust 11,2018.
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