necessary-force posts

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 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.

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.