Juiced set for pre-Christmas launch as Take Two nears deal

One of Acclaim's most promising titles prior to the company's bankruptcy, British developed street racing game Juiced, is back on track for a launch before Christmas, with publisher Take Two set to pick up the rights.

Although Acclaim was set to publish Juiced, developed by UK studio Juice Games, the project was actually funded by Fund 4 Games, a third-party company which funds and manages the development process for new titles.

F4G is now believed to be close to a deal with Take Two for Juiced, which is back on track for a release ahead of Christmas, with a source at the firm telling us this morning that the two companies are just "dotting the I's and crossing the T's" and should finalise a deal today.

However, the financial terms of the deal are still up in the air, and will need to be settled in the New York State bankruptcy court where the details of Acclaim's demise are still being hammered out.

Although Fund 4 Games paid for the development of the game and is thought to own the title outright under the terms of its contract with Acclaim and Juice Games, lawyers dealing with the bankruptcy are thought to be still working out whether any of the payment from Take Two for the title should make its way to Acclaim.

A spokesperson for Fund 4 Games today declined to make a statement on the financial situation, saying that the company did not wish to comment on details of ongoing legal discussions.