Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.

Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was founded in 1987 as a Delaware, USA 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, the company 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, the company 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 the company 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 the company 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, Title 11 (United States Bankruptcy Code). 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 September 2004, former Activision CEO Howard Marks purchased the Acclaim name and the logo for a reported US$ 100,000. Then in 2006, he and Neil Malhotra created a new company naming it Acclaim Games with an entirely different focus: Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) games. The company was acquired by Playdom on 18 May 2010, but was closed on 27 August 2010.

The Acclaim publishing label was acquired by CollectorVision Games in May 2016, but was short-lived. In early March 2025, it was announced that the label was relaunched and a new company was formed around it by a team comprised of Russell Binder, Mark Caplan and Jeff Jarrett, with Alex Josef serving as CEO.

Known divisions/subsidiaries

• 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 Max Sports (label)
• Acclaim Sports (label)
• Acclaim Studios Austin (Texas)
• Acclaim Studios Cheltenham (UK)
• Acclaim Studios (London) (UK)
• Acclaim Studios Manchester (Manchester, UK)
• Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City (Utah)
• 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
• AKA Acclaim (label)
• Club Acclaim (label)
• LJN Entertainment, Inc. (USA)