midway posts

A title that was first announced well over two years ago but has gone off the radar for much of that time may have finally come to its end. Computer and Video Games is reporting via a "cast iron source close to the project" that This is Vegas, the open world action game from developer Surreal Software, has been canceled by publisher Warner Bros. Interactive.

The game was developed under Surreal's original owner Midway and was shown in playable form at Midway's last major press event in 2008 and also at E3 the same year. The game, where your character gambled, partied and generally had a good time in a highly fictional version of Las Vegas, became part of Warner Bros. Interactive when the publisher purchased Surreal Software following Midway's collapse in 2009. Warner Bros. Interactive said This is Vegas was still in production when asked by IGN about its status in August 2009.

However, Computer and Video Games reports that Surreal Software was very quietly shut down last June and that the game, which the source said had already cost over $40 million to develop by Midway, was canceled along with the studio. We've emailed' Warner Bros. Interactive for comment.

Last year saw the now defunct publisher Midway making the decision to shut down its UK-based studio in Newcastle after not being able to find a buyer for it. Now some of people from Midway Newcastle have formed to launch a new development company, Pitbull Studio Limited. Ironically the name is similar to Pitbull Syndicate Limited, which was Midway Newcastle's original name before being bought by Midway in 2006.

The team now at Pitbull Studio have worked on many racing or driving-themed games in the past, including Midway Newcastle's last game Wheelman. However the Develop web site says that Pitbull's first (and unnamed) game " will make a significant departure from the racing titles the studio name is synonymous with." At the moment the company's official web site is pretty bare and links up to a Facebook page.

THQ's stock price took a big leap upwards on Tuesday in trading on rumors that the game publisher might be putting the "For Sale" sign up. MCV reports that Time Warner, Electronic Arts, Viacom and Fox/NewsCorp are all rumored to be looking at the publisher which had its stock price go up 13 percent on those reports.

Naturally none of the companies involved are commenting on the published rumors. THQ got caught with low selling games last year and as a result cut 25 percent of its workforce along with a number of its internal development studios. However, THQ's successful release of the console-only UFC boosted its bottom line recently and may provide new interest in companies who might want to acquire the company to obtain the UFC game license as well as others.

It looks like some of the folks behind the now shut down Midway Newcastle studio in the UK have wasted no time in launching a new company for themselves. This time, however, it's not a game development studio but rather a company that creates art designs for game tiles.

Atomhawk Design is the name of the new company which has as its director Cumron Ashtiani., the now former art director for Midway Newcastle. The four team members listed on the company's official web site worked on Wheelman, the last game that came out of the studio just before Midway shut down. Atomhawk's site claims they are working with "a number of top tier clients across all areas of digital media" but specific companies and/or projects were not revealed.

While's Midway's UK studio had to shut down because no one else wanted it, the same cannot be said of the their other outstanding development studio in San Diego. Last Friday, Midway revealed in a new filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that THQ has purchased that studio for about $200,000. THQ will also extend job offers to 40 of the studio's current team members

We do find it somewhat ironic that THQ takes over control of Midway's San Diego studio. A year ago, THQ was shutting down or selling off a ton of their own internal studios and laying off a lot of their former workers in the process. Apparently now that the publisher is flush with new profits they can now afford to expand a little. There's no word on what projects the new THQ San Diego will make.

[Via Gamasutra]

Midway continues to lay off workers just days after most of its assets and two of its development studios were bought out by Warner Bros. Interactive. Today in a new filing for the US Securities and Exchange Commission Midway revealed it has given a 60 day shut down notice to the 60 employees of its Chicago headquaters. The offices are expected to close by September 13.

The Chicago headquarters are separate from Midway's development studios in the same city which was bought out by Warner Bros. and where work continues on the next Mortal Kombat game. The fate of Midway's remaining development studio in San Diego remains unknown.

[Via Gamespot]

Following the news on Monday that most of Midway's IP and two of its development studios are now the property of Warner Bros. Interactive comes word that one of Midway's two remaining studios is officially closing its doors. Midway Newcastle, the UK-base studio who released the action-driving game Wheelman last March (with help from Ubisoft) is now in administration, according to an article on the Develop web site. Over 70 team members are expected to be affected by the shut down.

Just a few weeks ago, the studio was trying to get publishers to acquire them by announcing a new title called Necessary Force, an open world action game. The efforts were apparently not enough to get anyone interested in buying the studio. Still up in the air is the fate of Midway's San Diego studio which is also living on borrowed time.

It's possible that you can say "good bye" to the logo above this post. As of today Midway is no longer an actual company as most of its assets and IP are now officially under the Warner Bros. Interactive label. Indeed the Chicago-based Midway development studio has apparently been renamed Warner Brothers Games - Chicago according to a Twitter message from one of the game's development team members.

As we have reported before, Warner Bros bought most of Midway in late June for $33 million. That price includes two of Midway's four internal development teams; Chicago, home of the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise (and yes, work is underway on the next game in the series), and Seattle where the open world action game This is Vegas was in development (its current status is unknown). Two other former Midway studios, one in San Diego and the other in the UK, have less than two months to find new owners or they will be shut down. It's currently unknown if the Midway name will be kept as a brand under Warner Bros. but at the moment that seems unlikely.

Update: Our sister site Joystiq reports that a Midway spokesperson admitted that while Warner Bros. owns the Midway name and trademarks, " . . to say the name is dead, it's silly but, ya know, it's premature -- the company Midway Games, Inc. still exists." Technically he is correct because the two studios not bought by Warner Bros. are still in operation but again they will shut down in less than two months if a buyer or buyers are not found for them.

It looks like game publisher Midway will soon by no more. A story on the Chicago Tribune web site reports that Warner Bros. has been cleared by a Delaware bankruptcy judge to purchase two of Midway's development studios (Chicago and Seattle) along with most of the company's IPs, including the Mortal Kombat franchise. As previously announced Warner Bros. will pay $33 million for those assets.

And what about the other two Midway studios not bought by Warner Bros. (the ones in the UK and San Diego)? Our sister site Joystiq reports via a Midway spokesperson that they are required by law to shut down the studios within 60 days. There's no word yet if any other companies might be interested in acquiring those studios but the UK studio is trying to promote their own open world action game, Necessary Force, as a last ditch attempt to get a publisher to buy their studio.