Category:Iguana Entertainment

Iguana Entertainment was first incorporated in Sunnyvale, California on August 14, 1991 by Jeff Spangenberg. Other Iguana Entertainment 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.

President Jeff Spangenberg kept his pet iguanas, Killer (the oldest), Spike and Squirt (the baby) in a large tank in the lobbies of the Punk and Iguana offices. When RazorSoft closed the Punk Development office, the Iguana name was selected, and Matt Stubbington painted on canvas the original company logotype, which included a portrait of the original Killer.

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.

Also in 1993, the company acquired Optimus Software Ltd of Teesside, England which became Iguana 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 its largest customer, Acclaim Entertainment for $25MM ($13MM cash, the balance in Acclaim Entertainment stock) and the stipulation that Iguana Entertainment would retain its own independence; in the following years, the two Iguana studios became Acclaim Studios Austin and Acclaim Studios Teesside (AST).