cclaim Entertainment, the video game publisher responsible for the Turok series and the 1990s blood fest Mortal Kombat, collapsed yesterday under debts of more than $100m (£60m).

The company filed for liquidation after laying off almost all remaining staff on Friday. It employed 600 people at its head office in Glen Cove, New York, and had an office in Austin, Texas, and a UK base in Manchester.

Acclaim has been on the edge of bankruptcy for the past couple of months as it tried to find a lender to replace a credit facility with GMAC Commercial Finance that ended on August 20.

The company was one of the leading video games publishers of the 1990s. In the first half of the decade it increased sales from $140m to $560m. But the business had difficulty migrating to the newer generation of consoles such as Sony PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox.

Acclaim became embroiled in controversy over the Mortal Kombat series, developed by Midway Games. The title was the first to use images of blood and pushed the limits with its explicit violence. It sparked a United States congressional investigation.

The company recently tried to revive its fortunes by publishing BMX XXX, which featured footage of strippers.

Its other recent titles include Alias, Crazy Taxi, All-Star Baseball and Mary-Kate & Ashley: Sweet 16, based on the Olson twins.

In July, Acclaim reported a fourth-quarter loss of $25.4m

Acclaim's shares were de-listed from Nasdaq on Monday. Its assets were put at between $10m and $50m.

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Ouch.. Sucks to see them go down

Link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/computergames/story/0,11500,1296426,00.html