Acclaim Studios Austin

Iguana Entertainment was a game development studio that was founded on August 14th 1991 in Sunnyvale, California. The company originally focused on development for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo systems, and were best known at the time for their Aero the Acro-Bat games. In 1993 two major changes happened. First, they re-located to Austin, Texas. Second, they bought out Optimus Software, which was located in Teesside, England. Optimus Software was then renamed to Iguana UK.

In 1995, the two Iguana companies were sold to Acclaim Entertainment with the stipulation that the companies would retain their independence. Iguana's first title for the N64 was Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. The game was very successful and was a big help for Acclaim, as they were short on cash at the time. The sequel for Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was an even bigger hit. Turok 2 was released in December 1998 and sold 1.4 million copies within a 3 week period. In 1999 Iguana Entertainment was renamed to Acclaim Studios Austin. So much for keeping their independence. Besides the Turok games, the company had also handled the MLB license, NFL License, and South Park license. The last game they released for the N64 was Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion.

Acclaim Studios Austin had no trouble leaping to the next generation of consoles. This time their releases were more multi-platform, instead of mainly focusing on Nintendo. The company made a prequel to Turok: Dinosaur Hunter called Turok Evolution, as well as continued developing games for the All-Star Baseball series. In September 2004, their parent company Acclaim went out of business. The employees only learned of this when they showed up to work to find that the building's manager had locked them out. Acclaim Studios Austin was closed and its assets were liquidated.

The Iguana that appears in the logo is named Killer. He's named after the original president's Iguana which had the same name.

N64 games developed by Acclaim Studios Austin:

Year Game Developer Publisher
1997 NFL Quarterback Club 98 Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1997 Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1998 All-Star Baseball 99 Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1998 Iggy's Reckin Balls Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1998 NFL Quarterback Club 99 Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1998 South Park Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1998 Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1999 All-Star Baseball 2000 Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1999 NFL Quarterback Club 2000 Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1999 South Park Chef's Luv Shack Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
1999 Turok: Rage Wars Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim
2000 Turok 3: Shadow Of Oblivion Acclaim Studios Austin Acclaim