Defunct September 1, 2004 Founder Jeff Spangenberg Parent organization Acclaim Entertainment | Products Turok (1997–2002) Ceased operations September 2004 | |
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Former type Subsidiary of Acclaim Entertainment Industry Computer and video games
Interactive entertainment Headquarters Austin, Texas, United States Founded 14 August 1991, Austin, Texas, United States Video games Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, Aero the Acro‑Bat, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion, South Park | ||
Acclaim Studios Austin (formerly Iguana Entertainment) was an American video game developer from 1991 to 2004 best known for developing the Turok series and the home console versions of NBA Jam.
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Company history
Acclaim Studios Austin was first incorporated in Sunnyvale, California on August 14, 1991 by Jeff Spangenberg called Iguana Entertainment. Other founders include Mary Beth Campbell (later Mrs. Beth Spangenberg), John Carlsen, James Moon (known to most as J. Moon), and brothers Darrin Stubbington and Matt Stubbington.
Prior to incorporating Iguana Entertainment, Mr. Spangenberg had run Punk Development. Based in Sunnyvale, Punk Development was the product development arm of RazorSoft, Inc., an Oklahoma-based video game distributor. All of the founders and many early employees worked for Punk Development.
Iguana Entertainment's major clients included Acclaim Entertainment and Sunsoft.
In September 1993, Iguana Entertainment moved to Austin, Texas, becoming Austin's second-largest developer of computer games, smaller only than Origin Systems, which was already part of Electronic Arts. Iguana Entertainment became a Texas corporation on December 10, 1993.
The original pet iguanas could not be easily moved between states and were given away. Once in Texas, a new tank and iguanas were added to the lobby. Cyrus Lum created an updated company logotype (featuring a portrait of the new iguana named Killer) and animation that appears in many Iguana games with the iguana mascot.
Also in 1993, the company acquired Optimus Software Ltd of Teesside, England which became Iguana Entertainment UK. Iguana UK proved a valuable resource, both for "porting" arcade games including NBA Jam to home video game consoles and for recruiting and preparing employees for transfer to the US office.
In 1995, owners Jeff and Beth Spangenberg sold Iguana Entertainment to Acclaim Entertainment. In the following years, the two Iguana studios became Acclaim Studios Austin and Acclaim Studios Teesside.
In 2000, Jason and Darren Falcus left to form Atomic Planet Entertainment Ltd., Acclaim Entertainment made a sharp cut in the number of employees at Acclaim Studios Teesside, which was finally closed in 2002, with many staff being relocated to Acclaim Cheltenham.
When parent company Acclaim Entertainment went bankrupt in September 2004, most employees of Acclaim Studios Austin found out when they showed up for work but the building's manager had locked them out of their offices. Acclaim Studios Austin was closed and subsequently liquidated.
Games developed
During its 13-year history, Iguana Entertainment developed many games under both the Iguana Entertainment name (for both US and UK studios) and the Acclaim Studios Austin name.