Report: Acclaim Name To Return To Gaming

Following the continuing sale of various minor Acclaim assets, information obtained by consumer website GameSpot has indicated that Howard Marks, the ex-Activision executive who purchased the company's name back in June 2005 for $100,000, is in the process of relaunching the company, albeit with a new goal. According to cited job advertisements, the new company will specialize in bringing South Korean developed massively multiplayer online (MMO) titles aimed at the tween (9 to 13 year old) market to the West – a significantly different focus from the old Acclaim’s primarily Western developed action titles. Marks was one of the original founders of the second iteration of Activision, after he bought a 30 percent share in the original company. That company was declared bankrupt in 1991, before he founded the modern version of Activision's business that exists today. The casual gamer based MMO market is extremely popular in South Korea, with relatively simple titles being played via micropayment transactions. The first such game will be free to play "robot fighting game" B.O.U.T., which encourages players to buy additional parts for their robots using micropayments.