midway-newcastle posts

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.

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.

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.

Several weeks ago Midway announced plans to hold an auction to buy their assets and development studios. They already have a $33 million bid from Warner Bros. Interactive for their Chicago and Seattle based developers and the Mortal Kombat game property. However the same cannot be said of Midway's San Diego and UK based offices.

With a deadline looming, the UK based developer, Midway Newcastle, has decided to make a last minute attempt to get publishers to get interested in their team. Develop reveals the details on their new open world action game called Necessary Force. The developer has even launched a web site for the game containing a teaser trailer. The game itself is about a play-by-his-own-rules style of detective but studio head Craig Duncan insists " . . we don't think anyone's managed to capture the essence of those choices and consequences in games."

Will these actions be enough to get someone interested in keeping the team alive? It's certainly an interesting way of setting themselves out from the crowd.