Acclaim Entertainment reborn as indie game publisher focused on original IP

Acclaim Entertainment, the legendary company published titles like Mortal Kombat in the 1980s and 1990s, is back as an indie game publisher.

After more than two decades, a team of industry veterans has united to bring back one of gaming’s most iconic brands to publish original intellectual properties, said Alex Josef, CEO of the new Los Angeles company, in an interview with GamesBeat.

“It’s a relaunch, and revitalization of the Acclaim brand with a completely new team,” Josef said. “Some players have an association with Acclaim in the past, but it’s an all new team.”

He added, “First and foremost, the new Acclaim is going to support indie developers and new original IP. It will provide all of the resources needed to bring their games to the widest possible audiences.”

Just as other publishers shut their doors, Acclaim Entertainment is officially returning with a vision aimed at revitalizing the gaming landscape and fostering new talent. Originally founded in 1987, the relaunch marks a new chapter for the publisher, as it seeks to support indie developers and reignite classic franchises.

Acclaim will provide much-needed resources such as funding, marketing and PR support, giving independent studios the opportunity to bring their creative visions to a broad audience.

One of the key goals for the relaunched Acclaim is to resurrect and revitalize its beloved portfolio of classic IP enjoyed for years by millions of players. To ensure this vision comes to life, Acclaim has assembled an advisory board comprised of esteemed industry leaders, including Russell Binder at Striker Entertainment, Mark Caplan at Ridge Partners and Jeff Jarrett at Global Force Entertainment.

Their experience and invaluable guidance will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Acclaim’s classic franchises and innovative ventures. Acclaim’s growth strategy is further supported by key partners Phil Toronto, partner at VaynerFund, and Eric Vogel, partner at JET Management.

Their expertise in investment and management will help foster an environment ripe for nurturing independent developers and driving long-term success alongside the advisory board’s leadership.

The new Acclaim Entertainment’s leadership and board spans the entertainment industry—licensing icons, professional athletes, living music legends and seasoned veterans who have defined the intersection of video games and pop culture.

Two-time Hall of Fame wrestler Jeff Jarrett, with over three decades of experience in the sports entertainment and video game industries, underscores how this wealth of expertise will shape the future of Acclaim.

“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 a statement. “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.”

Jarrett added, “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.”

Tapped to spearhead the relaunch and growth of Acclaim as CEO, is games industry veteran Alex Josef, who brings more than two decades of experience marketing and publishing hundreds of games on PC, console and mobile.

“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.”

Josef didn’t know the original founders of Acclaim, as he graduated high school the year it started.

Origins

Greg Fischbach, the original founder who started Acclaim Entertainment in 1987, is not involved. Fischbach’s old company published games such as NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat. The latter was a controversial title that was so violent it led to congressional hearings about censorship. That eventually led to a game ratings system as well as a U.S. Supreme Court case that pitted child safety advocates against First Amendment rights. The game industry won that case.

But Acclaim Entertainment itself folded in 2004. Acclaim Games, a kind of successor, started in 2006. But it shut down in 2010.

Fischbach started a new game publisher, Accelerate Games, in 2020, as he was unable to get the old Acclaim name. But Accelerate Games has been very quiet.

And Acclaim’s old brands are scattered. Mortal Kombat is now Warner Bros. and NBA Jam is owned by Electronic Arts. Turok is held by Universal Studios. There were many more titles, like BMX XXX, Judge Dredd and Wizards and Warriors.

Bringing it back

The new Acclaim will take on a suite of publishing services, general funding, QA, localization and more. As a secondary focus, the company will seek out older IP, including older Acclaim game properties, and try to revitalize them for a new generation of gamers, Josef said. For the new Acclaim to get its hands on the old properties, that’s probably going to take a lot of money.

“We’re take a lookt at rebooting games. Some of the IP is not going to be available,” he said.

Josef said the company may publish three or four games a year as it gets up to speed, but it won’t pump titles out at a high rate. It will focus on an original IP and perhaps an established IP in any given time period. Russell Binder, the advisers, has been involved in a lot of game-based movies like Five Nights at Freddy’s, and that’s a possible outlet for the new Acclaim’s creativity as well.

“Everybody brings something to the table that allows us to look at different opportunities, whether that be licensing or some type of transmedia,” Josef said.

The company has raised funding but it isn’t saying how much yet. It has six people distributed across a variety of places.

“Underneath the Acclaim umbrella, we’ve got pretty large development team partnership that we have with with Mega Cat Studios, so we’ll be able to tap into their development team as needed,” Josef said. “They will handle porting and provide outsource support as well.”

Josef was previously part of Graffiti Games, which raised $1.5 million in 2021. He helped publish 16 titles during that time and left at the end of 2022. He started work on the new Acclaim project in 2024, first through consulting. And he spent the last year putting it all together.

“Originally, we were thinking about a brand new indie game publishing company,” Josef said. “Nobody seemed to be spending money. This is a perfect time to launch something new. Every single developer I’ve talked to has been super psyched about Acclaim. This is one of the most exciting things I’ve done in my career. “

The company expects to release its first game this year, perhaps around the third quarter. And it is actively looking for additional titles. It’s not going to be easy, as the market is very tough with 17,000 games coming out on Steam each year.

“Our goal is to publish an generate revenue as quickly as possible and bring on additional games,” Josef said.