End of a Legend as Atari shuts studio
US development studio Legend Entertainment is thought to have been shut down by publisher Atari, with almost all staff being laid off on Friday and only a small number remaining to oversee the shut-down.
US development studio Legend Entertainment is thought to have been shut down by publisher Atari, with almost all staff being laid off on Friday and only a small number remaining to oversee the shut-down.
The Virginia-based studio, which most recently released Unreal II: Special Edition, a multiplayer update to its 2003 title Unreal II: The Awakening, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atari.
The news of its closure was reported by US website GameSpot, which quoted an unnamed source as stating that "Legend has been shut down as a studio, with only a small staff still on board to manage the shut-down and to support existing efforts." The developer's website was taken offline on Friday evening.
Although Legend has most recently been working with Unreal technology, creating the videogame adaptation of the fantasy novel series The Wheel of Time in 1999 and going on to release Unreal II in 2003, the studio was founded in 1989 and originally specialised in adventure game titles.
Following a foray into publishing, Legend was purchased by GT Interactive in 1998, and then followed the familiar trail through GT's acquisition by Infogrames and Infogrames' renaming to Atari.
We have yet to see official confirmation of the closure, but it's likely that this will be forthcoming from Atari at some point today.
Further Reading: [Atari closes Legend Entertainment - GameSpot]