[3] In 1991, Spangenberg founded his own company in Santa Clara, Iguana Entertainment, and hired 20 staff, including friends of his.
[1][2] Iguana, who would later move to Austin, Texas due to the elevated costs of living in Silicon Valley, wound up bought by Acclaim Entertainment in 1995, and Spangenberg was promoted to an executive position in which he overlooked all of Acclaim's software studios.
[1] Spangenberg was fired from Acclaim in 1998, leading him to sue the company for breach of contract and fraud.
Shigeru Miyamoto was impressed with the studio's Action-Adventure game engine and suggested that Retro could use it to develop a new title in the Metroid series.
[10] Spangenberg's departure was attributed to frequent absenteeism and using Retro's servers to host a website that featured pictures of scantily clad women.