After Acclaim crashed and burned in 2004, the company’s intellectual property was acquired by Canadian games publisher Throwback Entertainment. Throwback picked up a library of over 150 game-related properties that previously belonged to Acclaim, including Extreme-G, Vexx, Summer Heat Volleyball, and more.
One of the more interesting games Acclaim published back in the day was D, a horror adventure game designed by Japanese composer Kenji Eno (Sega Rally 2). D followed the adventures of a Laura Harris, whose father goes on a mass-murdering spree and barricades himself inside a hospital. It dealt in a lot of adult themes like cannibalism and violent murders, and had four different endings for players to see.
Jeff Zukowski, Brand Manager at Throwback, has confirmed to Siliconera that the rights for D do belong to the company, so it should be interesting to see if they do anything with that title—especially since D has never been reprinted and is something of a cult classic. (Meanwhile, sequels Enemy Zero and D2 were published by Sega, and were released for the Dreamcast.)
One franchise Zukowski did confirm Throwback have definitive plans to revive within the year is a personal favourite of mine—Extreme-G, a series of very stylish, futuristic bike racers. Long before I’d played Wipeout and F-Zero, I spent hours and hours playing the Extreme-G games, and they were what gave me a taste for futuristic racing. Extreme-G2 and Extreme-G3 are still two of the best racers out there, in my eyes.
“The previous Extreme-G titles will be making a return on multiple platforms later this year,” Zukowski confirmed to me via e-mail last week, when I asked about potential plans for the franchise. “In regards to a new title, more details will be released later in the year. Extreme-G will be making a return on both fronts.”
Zukowski did not confirm what platforms Throwback are targeting, but PC and smartphones will both factor into reviving Acclaim’s library. Throwback will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud service to add features to these games, and Zukowski says the level of Azure integration will vary from title to title. Some games will involve “complete cloud gaming,” while others will simply include cloud value added features.
Food for thought:
Throwback also used to own the Re-Volt I.P., but sold it to a South Korean company named We Go Interactive in 2011. The acquisition covered Re-Volt, RC Revenge Pro, and RC De Go.
