Acclaim Gives Up The Ghost: Vivendi Universal Gets The Bard's Tale, Juiced Rolls On

There has been a fair amount of speculation about what’s to become of Acclaim’s unreleased projects, after the troubled publisher filed for bankruptcy earlier last week. Juiced, the ‘extreme’ street racing game, is seemingly unaffected by such financial woes, as it is Fund 4 Games that owns the rights to the title: and so it will simply seek another publisher. Which publisher this will be has yet to be confirmed.

The Bard’s Tale, developed by InXile Entertainment, is an PS2, Xbox and PC RPG which has impressed onlookers at its preliminary showings, but its future was also cast into doubt with the collapse of its publisher. A brief glance onto the updated Vivendi-Universal roster, however, reveals that the unusual take on the Baldur’s Gate style slash ‘em up has been rescued from the pit of oblivion. We’re relieved to hear it, because The Bard’s Tale lets players fight with “bastard swords”, and surely, the inclusion of a “bastard sword” is reason enough for any game to exist.

Another Acclaim title many had been anticipating was The Red Star, a re-visit to the frenetic style of shoot ‘em up epitomised by the Midway classic, Smash TV. It had been in a fairly late stage of development, so it will likely be picked up by an alternative publisher, although which one has yet to be revealed.

As and when more news breaks, we shall let you know.