Avantage Software was a budget label of Accolade Inc.
Accolade was a video game developer and publisher of the 1980s and 1990s. It was founded in 1984 by game industry veterans Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead. Miller and Whitehead founded Accolade after leaving another game developer and publisher they had founded, Activision, the first third-party game developer.

According to legend, Miller and Whitehead named their company "Accolade" because it came before "Activision" alphabetically implying that Accolade was superior to their previous company. Apparently when forming Activision, they chose that name because it came before "Atari." Later, a new game development company, Acclaim , another company formed from ex-Activision employees, apparently formulated their name because it came before "Accolade." Absolute Entertainment, again, a third company formed from ex-Activision people, ended up being first with the 'first in the alphabet' race.

Accolade did well in its early years, but by the 1990s, Accolade's sales suffered and management was forced to enact several rounds of layoffs. Under Barnett's direction, Accolade continued to flounder as more people were laid off. However, he kept the company afloat long enough to be purchased by French publisher Infogrames in 1999, right after publishing their last game Redline. Accolade, as a game development and publishing entity, quietly ceased to exist after the San Jose office was merged with Infogrammes' other operations and moved to Los Angeles. All of Accolade's assets are now owned by Atari (Infogrames).


Avantage Software from Accolade, Inc.
20813 Stevens Creek Blvd. Suite 500
Cupertino, CA 95014
USA

Year Founded: 1985
Year Defunct: 1989?