Acclaim Has Reached The End Of The Road

Acclaim has been in trouble for quite some time now, but has always been able to come up with a solution at the 11th hour, but even a cat only has nine lives, and Acclaim has run out of continues.

This morning we received information from a very reliable source that these rumors were indeed true but not only for its UK facilities but across the board.

On Friday, employees at the main New York office were called in for a meeting where it was disclosed Acclaim was filing for bankruptcy protection. No details were given about whether this "bankruptcy protection" was Chapter 11, which would allow Acclaim to continue operations, granting it immunity from its creditors while it restructures, or how the company was going to proceed. People were asked to pack their belongings and leave the premises by 1pm.

The Acclaim U.S. offices usually get paid twice per month so they received payment for the first half of August, while European employees only get paid once and will most likely not receive anything.

When asked about the imminent release of titles such as Juiced and The Red Star, our source confirmed those titles were finished and ready for publication but would obviously not be released on their expected dates (Juiced being Sept. 21st). The financial dispute between Acclaim and Battleborne over Combat Elite was still going on up until a few weeks ago, prouct date was to be determined. In light of recent events, it is safe to assume that there will be no quick solution in that area either.

After initial calls to the New York offices of Acclaim were not answered, we finally managed to got hold of media contact Edward Slezak, who unfortunately only said "I'm not interested in talking right now" and hung the phone.

At the end of last week, rumors started surfacing that its UK offices (Cheltenham and Manchester) were shut down, and that employees had not received their pay and were sent home.

The first sign came early last week when Acclaim issued a press release stating that its credit facility with GMAC Commercial Finance had reached the end of its term and was not renewed, having already been given two extensions.

We will keep on monitoring the situation and report back to you if anything new develops.