Game Publisher Acclaim Has Returned to 'Reignite' Classic Franchises and Support Indie Devs - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 04 March 2025 / 2,956 Views
Video game publisher Acclaim has been resurrected by a team of industry veterans.
The publisher will be led by industry veteran Alex Josef, who has over two decades of experience in marketing and publishing hundreds of games.
Acclaim will "reignite" classic franchises and support independent developers by providing funding, marketing, and public relations to help bring their games to a wider audience.
"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."
The advisory board at Acclaim includes Russell Binder at Striker Entertainment, Mark Caplan at Ridge Partners, and Jeff Jarrett at Global Force Entertainment.
"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.
"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."
VaynerFund partner Phil Toronto and JET Management partner Eric Vogel will support Acclaim's growth strategy. Both have experience in investment and management that will "foster an environment ripe for nurturing independent developers and driving long-term success."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Bluesky.
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Awesome news. They were amazing for the N64. Good to see the name back.
I hope one day, we get a Vexx remaster.
Jeff Jarret from AEW is a funny detail
Please reunite with netherrelm!!
First Argonaut, then Infogrames and now Acclaim?! Is AA gaming back?!
Never really went away with publishers like Koei Tecmo, NISA, and Falcom. They've been doing some good work over the past few years.
I dunno about those others. But, my understanding is that there is essentially no relation to the old Acclaim here. They just own the name.
That said, my understanding is based on 10 minutes of internet "research" (reading random news stories about this), so don't count on me to be correct.
Awesome. We can get remakes of BMX XXX and Mary-Kate and Ashley Crush Course!
They may have made some bad games, but they also really helped keep the games coming on the N64 during dry spells with some solid great games.
Fair enough, though they don't own the rights to those games anymore. Nightdive Studios does.
