JULY 17, 2009 • Although many of Midway Games’ Chicago development staff were retained after the auction acquisition by Warner Bros., all of the former’s corporate office employees were laid off. On July 28, the studio was rebranded as WB Games Chicago. Staff at Midway studios in San Diego, Calif.; and Newcastle, England; were also given notice. THQ acquired the San Diego studio from Warner Bros. on Aug. 7 for $200,000, and assumption of liabilities.
Impact: Warner Bros. has made plenty of excellent content and business decisions as it has expanded its video game arm. Rebranding the remnants of Midway Games probably is a relief for those former Midway developers who will no longer have to worry about working for an organization on wobbly legs. That said, we’ll miss Midway for its brash and edgy development tradition that gave us guilty pleasure titles such as NFL Blitz and Ready 2 Rumble – the kinds of titles we doubt we’ll be seeing from WB Games.
