The New Acclaim: CEO Alex Josef's Vision for Indie Games and a Storied Brand's Future

Alex Josef, CEO of the newly resurrected Acclaim, harbors fond memories of the publisher from his youth. "I definitely was a fan of Acclaim," he states, acknowledging that "they did some great things – and they did some not so great things." During the 1990s, the New York-based publisher was a dominant force in the console market, known for hits such as Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Mortal Kombat, and Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX. However, the company declared bankruptcy in 2004, with stories of internal chaos emerging, including how the planned Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3 evolved into the notorious BMX XXX. Josef, however, prefers not to focus on Acclaim's past demise, simply stating, "That's not really for me to comment on or worry about."

In contrast, the new Acclaim represents a story of entrepreneurial vision. Josef has been active in the games industry since the late 1990s, starting in PR. Over the years, he's pursued various ventures, from real estate to owning a cheese and wine bar. "My brain goes a million miles an hour, and I am a serial entrepreneur," he explains, adding, "I work 18 hours a day."

Alex Josef, CEO of Acclaim.

The cheese and wine bar, for instance, was a "little passion project" that ran concurrently with Josef's primary career in video game consulting and marketing. He established VIM Global Consulting in 2009 and served as CEO of indie publisher Graffiti Games from 2018 to 2022.

The acquisition of Acclaim originated when Josef was approached by a group of industry veterans. "We've been in the games industry for a long time, at least a couple decades each," Josef recounts. "We considered, 'What if we combined our expertise in publishing, licensing, development, and marketing to revitalize a truly iconic, cool brand?' We explored two or three options, but consistently returned to Acclaim." While Josef declines to reveal the other brands considered, he confirms that Acclaim emerged as the most suitable candidate for revival due to its strong brand associations. "We just like the whole vibe and the energy and the edginess of the Acclaim of old," he explains, noting that the strategy is to honor the publisher's legacy while adapting to "appeal to today's gamer."

Acclaim was indeed known for its edginess in its heyday. The publisher built a reputation for daring marketing stunts, such as offering to pay speeding tickets during the launch of Burnout 2 and proposing to compensate grieving families for placing ShadowMan 2 advertisements on gravestones. However, Josef explicitly states this is an aspect of the original Acclaim he does not intend to revive.

"I don't think we're going to be as focused on stuntiness," he clarifies. "I'm a big fan of creative marketing. My career in the games industry began in PR and marketing, so I appreciate anything creative – perhaps even a bit 'stunty,' but not to the extent of being in poor taste, causing harm, or breaking the law. I believe there are ways to be creative without going too far out of bounds. Therefore, creative marketing campaigns will be a significant part of our approach."

Scattered IP

Since Acclaim's relaunch was announced in March, Josef notes "a lot of curiosity," particularly regarding the potential return of its classic IP, such as Fur Fighters, Re-Volt, and Extreme-G 3. However, many of Acclaim's most recognized titles—including Mortal Kombat, Turok, NBA Jam, WWF Wrestlemania, and various Simpsons-based games—were initially licensed by the publisher. Upon Acclaim's dissolution, the rights to its wholly-owned games were dispersed among various entities. While Josef's team owns the Acclaim name, the rights to many iconic gaming franchises are no longer accessible.

"All of the IP just scattered in the wind," Josef laments. "Some of that IP, there's just no access to it, no ability to get that back." He does, however, concede that acquiring or licensing some other Acclaim-associated IPs remains a possibility. "It's not off the table," he confirms. "We are talking with many stakeholders for some of the old IP. A lot of it is just kind of crazy – it doesn't make sense in terms of, 'I don't know if we want to look at paying that much just for this'."

Josef notes that if they were to acquire any legacy IP, the intention would be to pair it with developers "really in line and in sync with what that IP was." Yet, he emphasizes that resurrecting old IP is "really not the objective" of the revived Acclaim.

"I think the objective first and foremost is a heavy focus on indie creators and demonstrating that we're going to get behind games, regardless of budgets," Josef states. "Don't be afraid to come and approach us if you have a game and you think the budget's too small for Acclaim." He outlines the publisher's strategy as building a strong foundation and "not put all of our eggs in one basket" before scaling up to tackle riskier endeavors.

"I don't think this is an environment where you want to be taking unnecessary risks. I'd like to have a job in a year, that's what I keep saying," he quips.

Katanaut by Voidmaw is the first title released by the newly resurrected Acclaim. (Image credit: Acclaim)

Josef clarifies that Acclaim's strategy isn't solely limited to small investments or seasoned developers, pointing out that several ongoing projects are by teams developing their first commercial game. "It just means not overly speculative," he explains.

He emphasizes their search for committed, collaborative partners where Acclaim can genuinely add value to their games. "That's really important, because we're trying to build relationships with developers, ideally, and not have everything be just transactional," he states.

Echoing many contemporary publishers, Acclaim seeks to sign games already well into development. "That's a smart way to go, because you can't predict what's going to happen in two or three years, and anything that's in that sort of concept phase is way too high risk," Josef explains.

"With the start of a company, you have to be very, very calculated and very judicious in the decisions that you make about publishing, and which games to publish, and who to partner with," he asserts. "And late-stage games – games that are closer to launch and that have a clear path to launch – are obviously much more desirable and make much more sense, because there's a lot less left to chance."

Indie Focus

Acclaim recently released a sizzle reel highlighting some of its upcoming published titles, among them the chaotic package delivery game Tossdown by Fer Factor and the hand-painted action roguelike Talaka from Potato Kid. Josef mentions that they also have a few projects in development where developers have been paired with licensed IP – though notably, not Acclaim's original IP.

#PlayAcclaim Showcase 2025 Sizzle. (Watch on YouTube)

Josef reiterates that relicensing Acclaim's historical properties might not be the optimal strategy for the reborn publisher.

"The biggest component there is doing something that makes sense – and that means makes sense in terms of timeline, IP, and investment," he explains. "Just because it's Acclaim IP of the past doesn't mean that everybody wants to play it, doesn't mean that it's going to make a great game, and doesn't mean that it's worth the price tag – and all of those have to align in order for it to make sense, otherwise what's the point?"

He concedes that while some of Acclaim's older IP is "certainly relevant and will resonate," some of it was also "not great, truth be told."

This raises a pertinent question: why acquire the Acclaim brand in the first place?

"I love the brand in and of itself," Josef replies. He acknowledges discussions about "maybe we just spin up something totally brand new," but emphasizes the inherent power of an established brand and the expertise of their industry-entrenched team. "We're not coming at this from some other industry and [going], 'Hey, let's do Acclaim, that was an old iconic video game brand'," he clarifies. "I think coming at it with a clear game plan, a clear strategy, and then with the intention to really grow and develop the brand in an intelligent manner with great games is a really good way to go.

"And the brand is fantastic. It looks good. It sounds good. It places well. I love just a single-word brand. This had everything, and it just made a lot of sense. We spent a lot of time going back and forth and thinking about it. This wasn't just some easy, light decision – 'Let's just get an old brand'. A lot of thought went into it."

Tossdown is being developed by Fer Factor and published by Acclaim. (Image credit: Acclaim)

While Atari, under Wade Rosen, has found success reviving old brands and leveraging retro game nostalgia, Acclaim's current game lineup appears to de-emphasize the retro aspect. Josef counters that the relaunched publisher's tagline, "past meets future," reflects a commitment to "paying homage" to its heritage while developing games that appeal to both current and future fans.

Nevertheless, it remains challenging to clearly connect the Acclaim of the past with its present incarnation. The revival of the Microprose brand, for example, maintained a clear continuum by focusing on the same simulation titles that defined the original company in the 1980s and 1990s. In contrast, the resurrected Acclaim is targeting PC-first indie games, which bear minimal resemblance to the blockbuster console action titles that originally propelled the brand to fame.

Josef, however, remains unfazed by this apparent juxtaposition. "I think there should be more of a focus, in our opinion, on some of the great indie creators, whether they be small or mid-size," he states. "We want to have a heavy focus on indie. And at the end of the day, I think that's where you're able to help the most people or help the industry the most in terms of bringing more games to the forefront and helping them get visibility.

"There are some of our games where I don't know where they would've gone – if we hadn't discovered them, I don't know if anybody else would've discovered them," Josef continues. "And for some of our games, many people were looking at them, and we got really lucky and also did a really good job of just communicating with the developer why they should work with us, and they felt the same way. And these weren't new developers: they had experience, they'd been doing games for a while. So whatever it is, I feel we're doing the right thing in terms of being able to communicate what our mission is to developers to make them want to work with us."