TIMELINE

Legend Entertainment Inc is formed by Bob Bates and Mike Verdu.

The company releases its first game, Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All The Girls, by Steve Meretzky. Bob Bates’ Timequest follows a year later and Mike Verdu joins full-time from ASC.

Companions of Xanth is released and shows off a new graphical engine, beginning a shift from traditional text adventure to point-and-click games.

Eric The Unready and Gateway II follow in a busy year.

Steve Meretzky retargets his humour with The Superhero League Of Hoboken. Mark Poesch joins full-time as director of R&D and Glen Dahlgren’s first solo project, Death Gate, is released, based on a series of books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

Shannara, based on the books by

Terry Brooks, is the big release of the year, while sci-fi adventure Mission Critical is notable for a small role for Star Trek

The Next Generation actor, Michael Dorn. Juggernaut book publisher Random House invests in Legend.

Legend emphasises its developer-forhire credentials with Star Control 3, hired by publisher Accolade after previous developer Toys For Bob stepped aside. It marks a shift away from developing and publishing to just the former.

Random House withdraws its support for Legend as it steps away from the world of interactive fiction.

Legend is acquired by GT Interactive, which is subsequently acquired by Infogrames. The Wheel Of Time, while based on a book series once more, is a first-person action game, a long way from the adventures it became renowned for.

A turbulent year as Mike Verdu leaves the company in April and Unreal II struggles along in development.

After an long period of development, the underwhelming Unreal II: The Awakening is published by GT Interactive. Then in late 2003, Legend finally ends as Atari calls time.