Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.
Overview
Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., was founded in 1987 as a Delaware corporation. Over the next 17 years, the company became a leading worldwide developer, publisher and mass marketer. The company's headquarters were located in Glen Cove, New York, and their common stock publicly traded on the US Stock Exchange (NASDAQ symbol AKLM).
Through their subsidiaries in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Australia, Acclaim distributed their software products directly to retailers and other outlets. They also utilized regional distributors in Japan and the Pacific Rim to distribute software within those geographic areas.
In addition, Acclaim was the distributor for other publishers worldwide. A smaller portion of their business included publishing gaming strategy guides and issuing "special edition" comic magazines to support brands they owned, including
Turok and
Shadow Man.
The demise of Acclaim Entertainment began in 2003 when the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) began an investigation into several video game companies, including Acclaim. Lawsuits were filed in March 2003 against Acclaim in US District Court alleging "violations against the Securities Exchange Act of 1934". In June 2003, CEO
Gregory Fischbach stepped down as chief executive and was replaced by President
Rodney Cousens. The end of Acclaim came when they filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. All divisions and studios were closed and assets liquidated by the end of 2004. Legal battles were fought in various courts all the way into mid-2007.
However, the name Acclaim has not died. During the liquidation period in Sept. 2004, former Activision CEO
Howard Marks purchased the "Acclaim" name and the logo for a reported $100,000. Then in 2006, he and
Neil Malhotra created a new company naming it
Acclaim Games with an entirely new focus: Massive Multiplayer Online Games.
List of Acclaim's companies, divisions/subsidiaries and studios (probably incomplete):
- Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. (HQ, Glen Cove, NY)
- Acclaim Distribution, Inc. (Oyster Bay, NY)
- Acclaim Entertainment Canada Ltd.
- Acclaim Entertainment Ltd. (London, UK)
- Acclaim Entertainment, GmbH (Germany)
- Acclaim Entertainment Pty Ltd. (Melbourne, Australia)
- Acclaim Entertainment S.A. (Paris, France)
- Acclaim Entertainment España S.A. (Spain)
- Acclaim Japan, Ltd.
- Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City (Utah)
- Acclaim Studios Austin (Texas)
- Acclaim Studios Cheltenham (UK)
- Acclaim Studios London (UK)
- Acclaim Studios Manchester (Manchester, UK)
- Acclaim Studios Teesside (UK)
- ACA Holdings Inc.
- Acclaim Cable Holdings Inc.
- Acclaim Character Animation LP
- Acclaim Coin-Operated Entertainment Inc.
- Acclaim Comics Inc.
- Acclaim Corporate Center I Inc.
- Acclaim Redemption Games Inc.
- ACTC LP
All Overviews
Acclaim Entertainment, Inc., was founded in 1987 as a Delaware corporation. Over the next 17 years, the company became a leading worldwide developer, publisher and mass marketer. The company's headquarters were located in Glen Cove, New York, and their common stock publicly traded on the US Stock Exchange (NASDAQ symbol AKLM).
Through their subsidiaries in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Australia, Acclaim distributed their software products directly to retailers and other outlets. They also utilized regional distributors in Japan and the Pacific Rim to distribute software within those geographic areas.
In addition, Acclaim was the distributor for other publishers worldwide. A smaller portion of their business included publishing gaming strategy guides and issuing "special edition" comic magazines to support brands they owned, including Turok and Shadow Man.
The demise of Acclaim Entertainment began in 2003 when the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) began an investigation into several video game companies, including Acclaim. Lawsuits were filed in March 2003 against Acclaim in US District Court alleging "violations against the Securities Exchange Act of 1934". In June 2003, CEO Gregory Fischbach stepped down as chief executive and was replaced by President Rodney Cousens. The end of Acclaim came when they filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. All divisions and studios were closed and assets liquidated by the end of 2004. Legal battles were fought in various courts all the way into mid-2007.
However, the name Acclaim has not died. During the liquidation period in Sept. 2004, former Activision CEO Howard Marks purchased the "Acclaim" name and the logo for a reported $100,000. Then in 2006, he and Neil Malhotra created a new company naming it Acclaim Games with an entirely new focus: Massive Multiplayer Online Games.
List of Acclaim's companies, divisions/subsidiaries and studios (probably incomplete):
- Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. (HQ, Glen Cove, NY)
- Acclaim Distribution, Inc. (Oyster Bay, NY)
- Acclaim Entertainment Canada Ltd.
- Acclaim Entertainment Ltd. (London, UK)
- Acclaim Entertainment, GmbH (Germany)
- Acclaim Entertainment Pty Ltd. (Melbourne, Australia)
- Acclaim Entertainment S.A. (Paris, France)
- Acclaim Entertainment España S.A. (Spain)
- Acclaim Japan, Ltd.
- Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City (Utah)
- Acclaim Studios Austin (Texas)
- Acclaim Studios Cheltenham (UK)
- Acclaim Studios London (UK)
- Acclaim Studios Manchester (Manchester, UK)
- Acclaim Studios Teesside (UK)
- ACA Holdings Inc.
- Acclaim Cable Holdings Inc.
- Acclaim Character Animation LP
- Acclaim Coin-Operated Entertainment Inc.
- Acclaim Comics Inc.
- Acclaim Corporate Center I Inc.
- Acclaim Redemption Games Inc.
- ACTC LP
Contributed by POMAH (19542) on Aug 28, 2002. [revised by : Jeanne 
(58652)].
