Old-school game publisher Acclaim is making a comeback. In its announcement, the publisher said it’s focusing on supporting new indie developers and attempting to revive some of its classic franchises for modern audiences
The new version of Acclaim has an advisory board headed by gaming industry veterans, including Russell Binder of Striker Entertainment, Mark Caplan of Ridge Partners, and professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett of Global Force Entertainment.
To kick things off, Acclaim will be supported by partners like VaynerFund’s Phil Toronto and JET Management’s Eric Vogel. The company is led by CEO Alex Josef, who has experience with game publishing and marketing for over two decades across PC, console and mobile.
“For more than three decades, I’ve had the privilege to have been a part of both the wrestling and gaming universes, and I’m thrilled to now be a partner in the revival of Acclaim, an iconic publisher known for releasing some of the most legendary games of the ‘80s and ‘90s,” said Jarrett in the press release.
“From my early involvement with the publisher’s hit 16-bit WWF titles to my experience helping shape the TNA Wrestling series, which spawned the first video game wrestler to become a full-time roster member in the squared circle, I’ve seen firsthand the type of impact great games can have on players and fans. Resurrecting Acclaim is an opportunity to impart the same degree of passion and love to a new generation, and I’m excited to be involved.”
“It’s an absolute honor and pleasure to be leading the charge in bringing Acclaim back to the forefront of the games industry,” said Josef, “We’re fortunate that we have an extremely talented team and that we’ve already signed some incredible indie titles, which we’ll be revealing soon.”
Considering its focus on bringing back classic titles, however, we might start seeing some remasters or even remakes of classic likes PS2-era platformer Vexx or RC racing title Re-Volt. The company could also dip into any number of various sports games its previous incarnation had worked on, like pro-wrestling game WWF Warzone or basketball game NBA Jam 99.
For some context, Acclaim, founded in 1987, had been quite prolific in publishing third-party titles on various platforms and games developed by subsidiary development studios it owned. The company started facing financial hardships during the early 2000s and had to declare bankruptcy by 2004. This resulted in the closure of the company and the sale of several of its IPs to cover its debts.
