Acclaim Entertainment

Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.
Company type	Private
Industry	Video games
Founded	1987; 39 years ago
Founder	Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes, Jim Scoroposki
Defunct	September 1, 2004
Fate	Filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy; assets sold at auction; brand relaunched in 2025
Successor	Acclaim Inc. (2025 revival)
Headquarters	Glen Cove, United States
Area served	International
Key people	Russell Binder, Mark Caplan, Jeff Jarrett, Alex Josef (2025 revival leadership)
Products	Video games, strategy guides, comics
Number of employees	585 (2004)

Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was a United States-based video game publisher headquartered in Glen Cove, New York. Established in 1987 by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes, and Jim Scoroposki from a small office in Oyster Bay, the company grew internationally through acquisitions during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Following unsatisfactory financial performance in fiscal 2003, Acclaim filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September 2004. Its assets were sold at auction, and in 2025, investors relaunched a new entity utilizing the Acclaim brand.

1987–1990: Formation

During the early 1980s, Greg Fischbach collaborated with Robert Holmes and Jim Scoroposki at Activision. After departing Activision and briefly working at RCA Records, Fischbach joined forces with Scoroposki—who owned a sales representation company in Oyster Bay—and Holmes to found Acclaim Entertainment in 1987. The startup was funded privately by Fischbach and Scoroposki without outside venture capital. Initially functioning purely as a publisher, Acclaim relied on external developers or localized titles from overseas markets. Eventually, it acquired development studios including Iguana Entertainment (Austin), Probe Entertainment (London), and Sculptured Software (Salt Lake City).

The choice of the name "Acclaim" was strategic, intended to precede competitors like Activision and Accolade alphabetically—a common naming tactic among former Activision executives.

To enhance retail visibility during an era when specialized gaming media had limited reach, Acclaim often licensed well-known comic books, TV shows, and films. Early collaborations included Interactive VCR Games Inc., which produced interactive VCR titles before expanding into handheld gaming devices. Additionally, Acclaim ported numerous arcade hits from Midway Games, including the Mortal Kombat franchise, and published games from companies lacking U.S. operations at the time such as Technōs Japan's Double Dragon II: The Revenge and Taito's Bust-a-Move series.

1990–2004: Growth and Expansion

In 1990, Acclaim teamed up with television producer Saban Entertainment and distributor Bohbot Entertainment to debut the show Video Power that autumn.

By December 1993, Acclaim had secured a distribution agreement with Buena Vista Home Video's Spanish division to market its titles within Spain.

In May 1994, Tom Petit—formerly president of Sega Enterprises USA—was appointed president of Acclaim's coin-operated arcade division.

Throughout the 1990s, Acclaim established itself as a prominent publisher of console video games. For the fiscal year ending August 1994, it reported profits of $481 million, which increased to $585 million the following year. Franchises such as Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and NFL Quarterback Club significantly contributed to revenue growth. The company also expanded by managing video game licenses for Marvel Entertainment properties and acquiring a minority interest in FMV developer Digital Pictures, distributing their titles via Acclaim Distribution.

In 1995, Acclaim purchased Sculptured Software, Iguana Entertainment, and Probe Entertainment, merging them into Acclaim Studios (active from 1999 to 2004). It also obtained exclusive publishing rights for Taito’s titles across the Western Hemisphere and established the industry’s first internal motion capture facility at its corporate headquarters.

Beyond gaming software, Acclaim produced strategy guides and special edition comics through its subsidiary Acclaim Comics to support its intellectual properties. The company developed the ASF/AMC motion capture format, which continues to be utilized within the industry today.

Acclaim maintained a longstanding partnership with the World Wrestling Federation beginning with 1988’s WWF WrestleMania. However, after failing to rival THQ/AKI’s WCW titles during the Monday Night Wars period, WWF terminated its agreement with Acclaim in April 1998 and instead partnered with Jakks Pacific and THQ.

In October 1999, Acclaim signed a deal with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) to publish games based on their promotion. Two titles were released before ECW filed for bankruptcy in 2001, leaving outstanding debts unpaid. Following this, Acclaim launched three wrestling games under the Legends of Wrestling brand during its final years.

2004: Financial Downturn and Bankruptcy

During 2004, Acclaim encountered significant economic difficulties resulting from disappointing sales of its video game products. This situation forced the shutdown of Acclaim Studios in Cheltenham and Manchester, England, among other sites, and led the company to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, leaving numerous employees without pay. Projects underway at the UK studios at that time included Emergency Mayhem, ATV Quad Power Racing 3, The Last Job, Interview with a Made Man, and Kung Faux.

In May 2004, Major League Baseball withdrew Acclaim’s license for the All-Star Baseball series due to outstanding royalty payments. The following month, Classic Media also revoked Acclaim’s rights to the Turok franchise for similar reasons.

After the expiration of its contract with main lender GMAC Commercial Finance on August 20, 2004, Acclaim ceased operations at all its locations on August 27, terminating staff at its Austin and New York studios. Prior to closure, the company employed 585 individuals worldwide as of March 31, 2004. On August 30, Acclaim announced intentions to file for bankruptcy and officially submitted for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Central Islip, New York on September 1.

In September 2005, a legal complaint was filed seeking to hold founders including Fischbach and Scorposki, along with other executives, accountable for financial losses incurred before bankruptcy, demanding $150 million in damages.

Divestiture of Assets

On October 1, 2004, Rod Cousens purchased the former Acclaim Studios in Cheltenham and Manchester along with several incomplete projects. His plan was to relaunch these studios under a new publishing entity called "Exclaim" by October 11; however, legal conflicts over Acclaim’s intellectual property rights with administrators in the US and UK hindered these efforts.

On October 8, 2004, THQ secured global publishing rights to Juiced, outbidding Take-Two Interactive.

In November 2004, Acclaim’s corporate headquarters were sold for $6 million to Anthony Pistilli of Pistilli Realty Group.

On April 20, 2005, Fund4Games acquired upcoming European titles from Acclaim and reopened the Manchester studio as Silverback Studios to continue work on Interview with a Made Man and ATV Quad Power Racing 3. Later in June 2006, Mastertronic obtained European publishing rights for Made Man.

The franchises Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX and ATV: Quad Power Racing were sold to Crave Entertainment in July 2005.

In August 2005, former Activision executive Howard Marks purchased the Acclaim brand name and logo for approximately $100,000. He launched Acclaim Games in early 2006 targeting multiplayer markets among preteens in the US and UK. Despite this effort, the company faced problems with connectivity, payment processing, and customer support quality, earning an "F" rating from the Los Angeles/Southern California Better Business Bureau.

In 2006, Throwback Entertainment acquired more than fifty Acclaim titles with plans to revive franchises such as Re-Volt, Extreme-G, Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance, Vexx, and Fur Fighters on modern platforms.

By March 2007, budget publisher XS Games obtained publishing rights for The Red Star, while Take-Two managed distribution throughout Europe. In April 2007, Codemasters acquired rights to develop and publish Emergency Mayhem from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

In July 2010, South Korean firm We Go Interactive purchased rights to Re-Volt, RC Revenge, and RC De Go! from Throwback Entertainment.

As of October 2015, ownership of the Acclaim trademark belonged to Gregarious Games, LLC. In May 2016, Collectorvision acquired the Acclaim brand name and continued its operations as an independent developer and publisher.

Liquid Media Group purchased a collection of 65 former Acclaim titles from Throwback in October 2018 for $1 million. This portfolio included prominent franchises such as NBA Jam, AFL Live, All-Star Baseball, and NFL Quarterback Club, as well as several games originally published by Taito outside Japan.

2025 revival

On March 4, 2025, a consortium of executives acquired the Acclaim trademark with the intention of reviving Acclaim Entertainment as an independent publisher. The revived entity, named Acclaim Inc., aims to potentially regain ownership of former Acclaim intellectual properties. Leadership of the new company includes Russell Binder, Mark Caplan, and professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett, while Alex Josef, CEO of Graffiti Games, has been appointed as Acclaim's chief executive officer.

Controversies

In its later years, Acclaim attracted criticism in the UK due to several contentious marketing and business strategies. One notable campaign offered a $10,000 (£6,000) reward to parents who named their child "Turok" as part of promoting Turok: Evolution, but it was later uncovered that participants who changed their names were paid actors. Another controversial promotion involved an attempt to purchase advertising space on gravestones for Shadow Man: 2econd Coming. Additionally, to market Burnout 2: Point of Impact, Acclaim proposed reimbursing UK motorists fined for speeding; however, this plan was abandoned following adverse reactions from government authorities.

In the United States, Acclaim was involved in several legal disputes, including a lawsuit from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen over unpaid royalty fees and another suit filed by investors accusing the company of providing deceptive financial statements.

The last installment in the BMX series, BMX XXX, included explicit nudity and partial nudity intended to increase sales but ultimately performed poorly and drew criticism for both its content and gameplay quality. Professional BMX rider Dave Mirra publicly repudiated the title and initiated legal action against Acclaim to sever his association with the game.

Following its acquisition of Sculptured Software in 1997, Acclaim abruptly laid off roughly half of the Salt Lake City studio employees, breaching contractual agreements that included stock vesting provisions. Affected workers were compelled to choose between accepting severance packages that relinquished legal claims or pursuing litigation without severance pay. A class action lawsuit in 2007 enabled some former employees to recover a portion of their vested stock.

External links

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