It doesn't require a rocket scientist to figure out what went wrong with Acclaim over the last 10 years. Let's break it down point by point:
1) No greenlight process and therefore, no checks and balances on what products received funding and why. The greenlight process at Acclaim was a phone call and a check book with little or no regard for market research or competitive analysis.
2) No P&Ls for individual products and therefore, no balance sheet to track what was being spent on what, where and when.
3) No dissemination of decision-making power. Acclaim was the worst sort of oligarchy in that all decisions were controlled by the very people who should not have been making them. The system remained in place for too long because ownership and management egos conspired to tighten their grip even when it was clear they had failed. The old-boy network at Acclaim was a circle jerk of epic proportions and longevity.
4) The Midway Effect. During the glory years of 1993-1995, with certain executive compensation in excess of $3MM per annum, the company thought the MK and NBA Jam days would last forever and henceforth, acted as if it could do no wrong. Ego and arrogance ran amok. The wrong staff was hired at the wrong time. Movie licenses were acquired with reckless abandon and summarily developed into crap. The real beginning of Acclaim's demise started with the loss of the Midway license and the disastrous overproduction and retail rejection of Batman Forever.
Acclaim, like Atari, would be a perfect Harvard casebook study. Hopefully the example of Acclaim is a warning and a lesson to publishers of its ilk. Unfortunately, this is an industry that has grown far faster than it has matured and the next-gen consoles will leave virtually no room for error. Expect the failures and bankruptcies to continue.
