Jeff Jarrett is getting back in the … video game business?
Legendary video game publisher Acclaim is coming back. The publisher, founded in 1987, is responsible for releasing hit video games like Mortal Kombat, Turok, and NBA Jam. Acclaim filed for bankruptcy in 2004. Now, the company returns more than twenty years later with a “bold vision aimed at revitalizing the gaming landscape.” The newly-revived publisher hopes to offer support and resources to independent studios and relaunch classic franchises.
Acclaim has also announced a new advisory board that includes current AEW star and Global Force Entertainment head Jeff Jarrett.
Jeff Jarrett comments on his role with Acclaim
“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.”
New Acclaim CEO Alex Josef also expressed his excitement about working with the new team. He also teased some new game titles in the works.
“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.”
Jeff Jarrett always saw video games as a great industry for pro wrestling to jump into
Jeff Jarrett has a long history of appearing as talent in video games. However, he’s also worked behind the scenes on them. Jarrett served as the Director of Wrestling for WrestleQuest and also helped secure TNA’s deal with Midway. Jarrett told WrestleZone he knew early on that video games were a massive industry for wrestling to branch out into.
“This is an easy answer,” Jeff Jarrett said. “At a very early age, there were several nights in my young wrestling career back in the Midwest territory that my payoff for getting paid to wrestle was less than the amount of money I made off selling pictures and merchandise. So from an early age, I understood that monetizing the industry wasn’t just in hard ticket sales. And then you fast forward to getting to the — in those days, it was called the WWF. And you get your royalty checks, and you look at action figures and video games. Those are obviously the leaders in the marketplace in a licensing program.
“Then 10 years later, I founded TNA, and we signed a deal with Midway and produced our own video game. And in reality, you just keep adding zeros in a way to the bottom line when you’re generating that type of revenue off of a licensing program. I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that one day I would be the executive producer of wrestling in a JRPG game. So just the evolution of it and seeing how things have progressed.”
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