Editing Cavedog Entertainment (section)

== History ==

=== Early days ===
Cavedog Entertainment was a label created in 1995<ref name="Eurogamer: Obituary">{{cite web |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/cavedog_rip |title=Let Sleeping Dogs Die |author=Gestalt |date=February 28, 2000 |website=[[Eurogamer]]}}</ref> by [[Humongous Entertainment]], a developer of children's video games founded by [[Ron Gilbert]] and [[Shelley Day]], to pursue the creation of mainstream games.<ref>{{cite web |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807085133/http://www.gamespot.com/features/totalstory/ |archivedate=August 7, 2007 |year=2007 |accessdate=January 8, 2011 |url=http://www.gamespot.com/features/totalstory/ |publisher=gamespot.com |first=Geoffrey |last=Keighley |title=The Total Annihilation: The Story So Far}}</ref> Humongous Entertainment was originally independent, but was purchased in 1996 by [[GT Interactive]].<ref>{{cite web |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19970530194653/http://www.cavedog.com/press/release1.html |title=GT INTERACTIVE LAUNCHES CAVEDOG ENTERTAINMENT, A NEW INTERNAL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT STUDIO |archivedate=May 30, 1997 |date=February 5, 1997 |accessdate=January 7, 2011 |url=http://www.cavedog.com/press/release1.html |publisher=gtinteractive.com |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the same year [[Square (video game company)|Squaresoft]] closed its office in [[Redmond, Washington|Redmond]], many of their former developers were hired for Cavedog, notably game [[music composer]] [[Jeremy Soule]] and [[Graphic designer|graphics designer]] Clayton Kauzlaric, who created the [[logo]] for Cavedog.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/articles/cavedog_a.shtm |accessdate=March 31, 2011 |publisher=GameSpy |first=John |last=Keefer III |title=Cavedog: Annihilation, Aggravation and Anticipation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310174040/http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/articles/cavedog_a.shtm |archive-date=March 10, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ton-of-clay.blogspot.com/2006/10/by-spring-of-1997-total-annihilation.html |title=TA-ncient History #4: Dogs, Yaks & Boron |first=Clayton |last=Kauzlaric |date=October 2, 2006 |accessdate=March 26, 2011 |publisher=Ton of Clay}}</ref> After two years of development on Cavedog's first product, ''Total Annihilation'', it was presented at the 1997 [[Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3]] in Atlanta, and published on September 30, 1997.

=== After ''Total Annihilation'' ===
''Total Annihilation's'' creator, [[Chris Taylor (game designer)|Chris Taylor]], left the company shortly before the release of the ''[[Total Annihilation: Core Contingency|Core Contingency]]'' [[expansion pack]] to found his own development house, [[Gas Powered Games]]. Cavedog released one more expansion pack, ''[[Total Annihilation: Battle Tactics|Battle Tactics]]'', as well as many freely downloadable enhancements and [[patch (computing)|patch]]es, and built strong community support with their own online service, Boneyards (now shut down), that matched opponents and provided a continuing game campaign.

In 1999, Cavedog released ''[[Total Annihilation: Kingdoms]],'' largely reusing the ''Total Annihilation'' [[game engine]],{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} but replacing the [[Science fiction|science-fiction]] theme with a [[fantasy]] one. ''Kingdoms'' did not resonate as well with critics or fans of the original title. One expansion pack was released, ''The Iron Plague''.

=== Closure ===
The closure of Cavedog came as the [[Video game industry|game industry]] began to experience a downturn in sales, to which parent company [[GT Interactive]] was affected. Besides the ''Total Annihilation'' franchise, Cavedog had three other ambitious<ref>{{cite web |last=Bye |first=John |title=The Death Of the Celebrity Studio |publisher=[[Eurogamer]] |date=June 25, 2001 |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/a_studiodeath |accessdate=November 27, 2007 |quote=''One by one their other projects were cancelled as it became obvious that the games were simply far too ambitious, until in February 2000 the company was closed down entirely and its remaining staff absorbed into parent company Humongous.''}}</ref> games in development, but only ''Total Annihilation'' and the related ''Kingdoms'' made it to store shelves, and their sales were much smaller than their user base.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}

The unfinished projects were: ''[[Amen: The Awakening]]'', a [[first-person shooter]]; ''Elysium'', a fantasy [[adventure game|adventure]] title; and ''Good & Evil'', an adventure title from [[Ron Gilbert]]. With GT Interactive spiraling into debt and no ship dates in sight, all three were discontinued by the fall of 1999.

GT Interactive was purchased by [[Infogrames]] and the Cavedog label was discarded by [[Humongous Entertainment]] in 2000, which renewed its focus on children's games. Cavedog declared bankruptcy in 2000. Humongous Entertainment was shut down in 2005 by Infogrames (now called Atari). Cavedog's developers have played significant roles at [[Gas Powered Games]] and [[Beep Industries]].