Atari closes Legend Entertainment?
Unreal II: Special Edition could be the final edition from the Virginia-based developer.
Most workers look forward to Friday. Unfortunately, that's also the day most firings happen, as may have been the case at Legend Entertainment. Word came in late today that the developer's owner, Atari, has shut down the Virginia-based studio and sent all its employees packing.
When contacted by GameSpot, an Atari spokesman would neither confirm nor deny the closure. "You'll have to talk to corporate PR about that one," said the rep, who sounded like he was physically backing away from the phone. "I can't say anything about that." The spokesman then offered the e-mail of the sole person who could comment--an executive conveniently based in Atari's New York office, which was already closed for the holiday weekend. However, it is not a good sign that Legend's Web site was suddenly taken offline Friday evening.
Legend was founded 1989 by Bob Bates and Mike Verdu, and quickly specialized in adventure games. Despite some early successes in publishing, Legend repositioned itself solely as a developer in 1995. In 1998, the company was bought by GT Interactive, which was then promptly swallowed up by Infogrames, the French publisher which assumed the Atari name in 2002. Most recently, Legend had developed the multiplayer Unreal II: Special Edition, which was released in December 2003.
gamespot.
tja, atari ist nunmal ne totale kackfirma. schade, das es nun auch legend erwischt hat. deren spiele waren immer sher schön. insbesondere die alten grafikadventures und auch The Wheel of Time.