Legend Entertainment Company was an American developer and publisher of computer games, best known for creating adventure titles throughout the 1990s.
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19 Facts About Legend Entertainment
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Legend Entertainment was founded by Bob Bates and Mike Verdu, both veterans of the interactive fiction studio Infocom that shut down in 1989.
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3.
Legend Entertainment profited from negotiating licenses to popular book series, allowing them to create notable game adaptations such as Companions of Xanth and Gateway.
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Legend Entertainment earned a reputation for comedic adventures, with numerous awards for Eric the Unready in 1993.
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5.
Legend Entertainment secured an investment from book publishing company Random House and developed additional book adaptations, such as Death Gate and Shannara, as well as original titles such as Mission Critical.
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6.
Legend Entertainment found game publishers to take over marketing and distribution so it could focus its efforts exclusively on development.
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However, Legend Entertainment's sales continued to dwindle, followed by the difficult development and commercial failure of Unreal II: The Awakening in 2003.
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Legend Entertainment told investors that the adventure genre was still viable, but it needed to evolve beyond just text.
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Legend Entertainment benefitted from a strong relationship with traditional book publishers, securing licensing deals for their team's favorite authors while costs were still low.
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10.
In 1993, Legend Entertainment released Gateway II as their last graphic adventure that could still be played in a text-only mode.
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11.
However, Legend Entertainment's business began to shift with rising production costs for game graphics.
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12.
In 1994, Legend Entertainment enabled Glen Dahlgren to release his first solo project as Death Gate, an adaptation of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's fantasy book series The Death Gate Cycle.
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13.
That same year, Legend Entertainment released Superhero League of Hoboken, where writer Steve Meretzky updated his brand of comedy.
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14.
The creators of the first two Star Control games had moved onto other projects, so Accolade hired Legend Entertainment to create the third game because of the team's enthusiasm for the series.
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15.
In 1998, Legend Entertainment released a game adaptation of John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles, which ultimately became their final adventure game release.
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16.
Legend Entertainment shifted strategies with the rising popularity of the first-person shooter.
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17.
Legend Entertainment released The Wheel of Time in 1999, a first-person action game that represented a major shift from their reputation for adventure games.
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19.
Many of the former Legend Entertainment staff went on to have successful careers elsewhere in the industry.
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