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Acclaim Studios Manchester
Formerly	Software Creations (1985–2002)
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	1985; 40 years ago
Founder	Richard Kay
Defunct	27 August 2004; 20 years ago
Fate	Dissolved
Headquarters	Manchester, England
Parent	Acclaim Entertainment (2002–2004)

Acclaim Studios Manchester (formerly Software Creations) was a British video game developer based in Manchester, England. The company was established in 1985 by Richard Kay. They were primarily known for their video games based on movie and comic licences like Marvel Comics, Cutthroat Island, Disney's Beauty and the Beast and the original titles Plok, Solstice, and its sequel Equinox.

History

According to Richard Kay, Software Creations began in 1986 when Steve Ruddy responded to an advertisement he had placed in the Manchester Evening News:

Steve and I hit it off right away. He worked from home, and he did a boxing game called The Big KO. We worked very closely with each other for about 12 months. I hired Mike Ager and Andrew Threlfall, and we were the first four at Software Creations. I got an office on Oxford Road and it was above a computer shop directly opposite the BBC. We did a lot of games for Firebird - they were all for about three or four hundred pounds.^[1]
— Richard Kay, Retro Gamer

Most of these early games were ports of budget titles to other platforms such as the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST, NES and the Game Boy. The company's breakthrough game was the Commodore 64 version of the arcade hit Bubble Bobble, a conversion which won critical acclaim and commercial success, and led to Software Creations being asked to do many more ports of popular arcade games.^[1] By this time the company had grown to include brothers Mike, Tim, and Geoff Follin, and artist Mark Wilson.^[1]

An early demo of Solstice won Software Creations a contract with Nintendo, leading to some high-profile NES and Super NES games.^[1]

During the mid-1990s, Software Creations was responsible for the development of sound tools used in the creation of music for the Nintendo 64 and its development systems.^[2]

On 1 May 2002 Acclaim announced that they had acquired Software Creations, which was renamed Acclaim Studios Manchester.^[3]^[4] At the time, Software Creations had approximately 70 employees.^[5] Acclaim Studios Manchester was closed as part of Acclaim Studios and all of its development facilities on 27 August 2004.^[6] Rod Cousens and Barry Jafrato, who served as chief executive officer and head of publishing, respectively, for Acclaim, announced in September 2004 that they were planning to create as new video game publisher, Exclaim, with the help of Europlay Capital Advisers.^[7] Exclaim was set to acquire and reinstantiate Acclaim's two UK studios, namely Manchester and Cheltenham, and re-employ their roughly 160 previous members.^[8] Exclaim's opening was expected on 11 October,^[9] however, Cousen's ownership over the two studios was challenged by Acclaim's liquidator, Allan Mendelsohn, leaving the UK staff in a state of limbo.^[10] A successor to Acclaim Studios Manchester, SilverBack Studios, was founded by Jon Oldham in April 2005 and employed 15 former Acclaim Studios Manchester staff.^[11]^[12]

Games

As Software Creations
Year	Title	Platforms
1988	Aigina's Prophecy	Commodore 64
1988	Bionic Commando	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
1989	Ghouls 'n Ghosts	Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
	Plotting	Amiga, Atari ST
	World Games	NES
	Sky Shark
1990	Magic Johnson's Fast Break
	Target: Renegade
	Solstice
	Pictionary
	Silver Surfer
1991	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
	The NewZealand Story
	Wolverine
	Tom and Jerry (and Tuffy)
	Altered Space	Game Boy
	Gauntlet III: The Final Quest	Amiga, Atari ST^[13]
	Treasure Master	NES
1992	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	NES
	Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge	Super NES, Genesis, Game Gear
	Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game	Genesis
1993	Blaster Master 2
	Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Quest
	Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Roar of the Beast
	Plok	NES (cancelled), Super NES
	The Incredible Crash Dummies	NES, Game Boy
	Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends	NES (cancelled), Super NES
	Equinox (Solstice 2)	Super NES
1994	Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage	Genesis, Super NES
	The Tick	Genesis, Super NES
	Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball	Super NES
	The Simpsons: Bart and the Beanstalk	Game Boy
	Tin Star	Super NES
1995	Spider-Man & Venom: Separation Anxiety	Genesis, Super NES
	Foreman for Real	Super NES
	Mortal Kombat 3	Game Boy, Game Gear, Master System
1996	Cutthroat Island	Super NES, Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear
1997	Hexen: Beyond Heretic	Nintendo 64
1997	Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98	Nintendo 64, PlayStation
1998	The Rugrats Movie	Game Boy, Game Boy Color
1999	Carmageddon 64	Nintendo 64
	NASCAR 2000	Game Boy Color
	Boarder Zone
	Rugrats: Time Travelers
	Ken Griffey Jr.'s Slugfest
2000	Nicktoons Racing	Windows, PlayStation, Arcade
	NASCAR Racers	Windows
	Rugrats in Paris: The Movie	Game Boy Color
2001	The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror	Game Boy Color
	Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase	Game Boy Advance
	Rugrats: Castle Capers	Game Boy Advance
2023	Moto-X^[14]	Super NES
Cancelled	Barbie: Vacation Adventure^[15]	Super NES, Genesis
Cancelled	Spiral Saga^[16]	PlayStation

As Creations
Year	Title	Platforms
2002	The Ripping Friends	Game Boy Advance
	All-Star Baseball 2003	Game Boy Advance
	2002 FIFA World Cup	GameCube, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox
	Stuart Little 2	Game Boy Advance
	Super Monkey Ball Jr.	Game Boy Advance

As Acclaim Studios Manchester
Year	Title	Platforms
2003	Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance	PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox
2003	All-Star Baseball 2004	Game Boy Advance
Cancelled	Interview with a Made Man	PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox
Cancelled	ATV Quad Power Racing 3	PlayStation 2, Xbox

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bevan, Mike (13 December 2013). "Bubbles, Baseball and Buzz Saws...". Retro Gamer. No. 122. Imagine Publishing. pp. 74–79.
^ Gaming Gossip. Electronic Gaming Monthly. Issue 69. Pg.52. April 1995.
^ IGN Staff (1 May 2002). "Acclaim Acquires New Studio". ign.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ "Acclaim Studios Manchester formed". eurogamer.net. May 2002. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ "Acclaim Launches New Studio In Manchester, UK". gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ Perry, Douglass C. (27 August 2004). "Acclaim Closes Offices". ign.com. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ Jenkins, David (30 September 2004). "Gamasutra - The Art & Business of Making Games". www.gamasutra.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ "Former Acclaim boss in rescue bid for UK studios". eurogamer.net. October 2004. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ "Acclaim CEO's new company plans to launch next week". gamesindustry.biz. 6 October 2004. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ "Acclaim UK studios' future unclear as Exclaim deal stalls". gamesindustry.biz. 14 October 2004. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ "Former Acclaim title returns". eurogamer.net. 3 May 2005. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ "SilverBack Studios launches from the ashes of Acclaim UK". gamesindustry.biz. 29 April 2005. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
^ Hamza, Kati (January 1991). "Running the Gauntlet". The One. No. 28. emap Images. pp. 37–38.
^ Extension, Time (19 July 2023). "Cancelled Motocross Game For SNES Finally Released Almost 30 Years Later". Time Extension. Archived from the original on 21 July 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
^ "Barbie Vacation Adventure". snescentral.com. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
^ Yarwood, Jack (23 September 2022). "The Tale Of Spiral Saga, The Lost PlayStation 1 Exclusive". Time Extension. Hookshot Media. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2022.