Jump to content

Humongous Entertainment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 58.107.189.11 (talk) at 03:36, 24 June 2017 (→Blue's Clues). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Humongous Entertainment, Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo game industry
FoundedMarch 2, 1992; 32 years ago (1992-03-02)
Founder
DefunctJuly 1, 2006 (2006-07-01)
FateMerged out
Headquarters
Bothell, Washington
,
U.S.
Area served
North America
Parent
Websitehumongous.com

Humongous Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Bothell, Washington. Founded in March 1992, the company is best known for developing multiple edutainment franchises, of which most prominently, Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam and Spy Fox, which, combined, sold over 15 million copies and earned more than 400 awards of excellence.[1] Humongous Entertainment was acquired by GT Interactive (later renamed Infogrames, Inc., then Atari, Inc.) in July 1996, which sold it to its parent company, Infogrames (later renamed Atari, SA), in August 2005, as a result of which the company was shut down. Infogrames transitioned the label to a new company, Humongous, Inc., which continued publishing games under the Humongous label until 2009, when it faced bankruptcy. As part of the bankruptcy agreement of the Atari, SA subsidiary Atari, Inc., Humongous, Inc. and Atari Interactive, Tommo acquired the Humongous brand and all of its assets, and went on to re-release some of its games into digital distribution channels in conjounction with Night Dive Studios.

History

Formation (1992–1996)

Humongous Entertainment was formed on March 2, 1992, by Shelley Day and Ron Gilbert.[2] The name Humongous Entertainment was suggested by Gilbert's ex-LucasArts colleague, Tim Schafer.[3] It became known for point-and-click adventure games intended for young children, such as the Putt-Putt series, the Freddi Fish series, the Pajama Sam series and the Spy Fox series, all released in the "Junior Adventure" series. The company got the reputation as the "third largest children's educational-software company".[4]

In 1995, Gilbert and Day established a company division, Cavedog Entertainment, in Seattle, set to develop games of alternative genres, and released Total Annihilation, a real-time strategy (RTS) game, in 1997. This was followed by two expansion packs in 1998, as well as variation called Total Annihilation: Kingdoms plus expansion pack in 1999.[5]

Acquisitions, decline, dissolution (1996–2006)

On July 11, 1996, Humongous Entertainment was purchased by GT Interactive for US$76 million.[6] In November 1999, GT Interactive was acquired by Infogrames and renamed Infogrames, Inc. In 2000, Humongous Entertainment launched its One-Stop Fun Shop series, with each one game in the Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam and Freddi Fish series.[7]

In 2000, the co-founders tried to buy Humongous Entertainment back from Infogrames, Inc., using external funding, but the day of the planned purchase was the day of the dot-com collapse, wherefore the funding was pulled. The founders soon left Humongous, alongside many other key emploees, and formed a new studio, Hulabee Entertainment, in 2001. In June 2001, Infogrames, Inc. laid off 82 personnel, over 40% of staff from Humongous Entertainment.[8] In May 2003, after Infogrames, Inc. purchased Hasbro Interactive—which owned the rights to the Atari brand—the company was renamed Atari, Inc. In August 2005, facing financial struggles, Atari, Inc. sold Humongous Entertainment to majority stock holder Infogrames for US$10.3 million, under the condition that all titles developed by Humoungous Entertainment through March 31, 2006.[9] No further game was completed by Humongous Entertainment in the given time, and the company was dissolved the day after. Infogrames then transitioned all assets and brands to a newly established company, Humongous, Inc., not bound to any agreement from Atari, Inc., which would go on to publish several titles under the Humongous name until 2009.

Finding itself in a difficult financial situation, Infogrames (then renamed Atari, SA), filed bakruptcy for three of its American subsidiaries, Atari, Inc., Atari Interactive, and Humongous, Inc. in 2009. As part of the resolution proceedings, the Humongous brand and several most were transferred to Tommo on July 19, 2013. Furthermore, the Backyard Sports series was acquired by The Evergreen Group,[10] and MoonBase Commander by Rebellion Developments.[11] Tommo, together with Night Dive Studios, went on to re-release several older Humongous Entertainment titles under the Humongous Entertainment label into digital distribution channels, primarily, Steam and GOG.com.

Games developed

Putt-Putt

Main article: Putt-Putt (series)

Freddi Fish

Main article: Freddi Fish

Pajama Sam

Main article: Pajama Sam

Spy Fox

Main article: Spy Fox

Blue's Clues

Main article: Blue's Clues

Fatty Bear

Main article: Fatty Bear

Big Thinkers

Main article: Big Thinkers (video game series)
  • Big Thinkers Kindergarten (1997)
  • Big Thinkers 1st Grade (1997)

Junior Field Trips

Main article: Junior Field Trips
  • Let's Explore the Airport (1995)
  • Let's Explore the Jungle (1995)
  • Let's Explore the Farm (1995)

Backyard Sports

Main article: Backyard Sports series

References

  1. ^ "Majesco Brings Humongous' Best-Selling Children's Properties to Wii". GameZone. March 25, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  2. ^ "Humongous Entertainment's Child's Play Develops Maturity". Los Angeles Times. 1997-09-15. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
  3. ^ Dave Grossman (2009-06-19). "Q&A With the Team". Telltale Games. Retrieved 2014-01-12. True fact: It was Tim Schafer who suggested the name "Humongous Entertainment."
  4. ^ Robert Sorbo. "Cyber Elite - Shelley Day". Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Cavedog Entertainment". December 12, 1998. Archived from the original on August 8, 2003. Retrieved April 23, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Company News; GT Interactive acquires Humongous Entertainment". New York Times. July 11, 1996. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  7. ^ "Humongous Entertainment's One-Stop Fun Shops".
  8. ^ "Humongous cuts 40% of its staff". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2001-06-15. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
  9. ^ "Atari Sells Humongous to Infogrames for $10.3 Million". Business Week. 2005-08-28. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
  10. ^ "The Evergreen Group Has Agreed to Acquire Backyard Sports Video Game Franchise". Business Week. 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
  11. ^ "Wargaming, Rebellion and Stardock all bid on Atari assets". Gamasutra. 2013-07-22. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Humongous_Entertainment&oldid=787216293"