Midway Games Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher and developer. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets.
History[]
The company's predecessor was founded in 1958 as Midway Manufacturing, an amusement game manufacturer. In 1973 it moved into the interactive entertainment industry, developing and publishing arcade video games. The company scored its first mainstream hit with the U.S. distribution of Space Invaders in 1978. Midway was purchased and re-incorporated in 1988 by WMS Industries Inc. After many years as a leader in the arcade segment, Midway moved into the growing home video game market beginning in 1996, the same year that it made its initial public offering of stock. In 1998, WMS spun off its remaining shares of Midway. Midway was ranked as the fourth largest-selling video game publisher in 2000.
After 2000, Midway continued to develop and publish video games for home and handheld video game machines, but it experienced large annual net losses and engaged in a series of stock and debt offerings and other financings and borrowings. Sumner Redstone, the head of Viacom/CBS Corporation, increased his stake in Midway from about 15%, in 1998, to about 87% by the end of 2007. In December 2008, Redstone sold all his stock and $70 million of Midway debt to Mark Thomas, a private investor, for $100,000.
In February 2009, Midway Games filed in Delaware for bankruptcy, Warner Bros. purchased most of Midway's assets (including Mortal Kombat), and Midway settled with Mark Thomas to relinquish his Midway stock and debt. The U.S. District Court in Chicago dismissed a lawsuit alleging that former officers of Midway misled shareholders while selling their own stock. In 2010, the bankruptcy court dismissed claims against Redstone concerning his sale of the company to Thomas and approved Midway's plan of liquidation. Midway terminated the public registration of its securities in June 2010. In March 2011, the court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the sale of assets to Warner. As of 2012, a liquidating trust continues to collect and distribute any proceeds and other assets to Midway's remaining creditors and pursues avoidance actions on behalf of the creditors.
Games[]
Cartoon Network games[]
- Ed, Edd, n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures (2005)
- The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2006-2007)
Cruis'n series[]
- Cruis'n USA (1994-2008)
- Cruis'n World (1996-1998)
- Cruis'n Exotica (1999-2000)
Defender series[]
- Defender (1980)
- Stargate (1981)
Galaga series[]
- Galaga (1981)
- Galaga 3 (1984-2009)
Game Party series[]
- Game Party (2007-2008)
- Game Party 2 (2008)
Gauntlet series[]
- Gauntlet Legends (1998-2000)
- Gauntlet Dark Legacy (2000-2002)
Joust series[]
- Joust (1982)
- Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest (1986)
Killer Instinct series[]
- Killer Instinct (1994-1995)
- Killer Instinct (1996)
MLB Slugfest series[]
- MLB Slugfest 2003 (2003)
- MLB Slugfest 2004 (2004)
- MLB Slugfest Loaded (2005)
- MLB Slugfest 2006 (2006)
Mortal Kombat series[]
- Mortal Kombat (1992)
- Mortal Kombat II (1993)
- Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
- Mortal Kombat Advance (2001)
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat (2007)
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy (1996)
- Mortal Kombat 4 (1997)
- Mortal Kombat Gold (1999)
- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002)
- Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition (2003)
- Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004)
- Mortal Kombat: Unchained (2006)
- Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (2005)
- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006-2007)
- Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008)
NBA series[]
- NBA Jam (1993)
- NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (1994)
- NBA Hangtime (1996-1997)
- NBA Maximum Hangtime (1997)
- NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC (1999)
- NBA Ballers: Rebound (2006)
NHL/NHL Hitz series[]
- NHL 2 On 2 Open Ice Challenge (1995-1997)
- NHL Hitz 2002 (2001-2002)
- NHL Hitz 2003 (2002)
- NHL Hitz Pro (2003)
Rampage series[]
- Rampage (1986)
- Rampage World Tour (1997-1999)
- Rampage: Total Destruction (2006-2007)
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing series[]
- Ready 2 Rumble Boxing (1999)
- Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 (2000-2002)
San Francisco Rush series[]
- San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing (1996-1998)
- San Francisco Rush The Rock: Alcatraz Edition (1997-1998)
- San Francisco Rush 2049 (1999-2000)
Spy Hunter series[]
- Spy Hunter (1983)
- Spy Hunter II (1987)
- Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run (2006)
The Suffering series[]
- The Suffering (2004)
- The Suffering: Ties That Bind (2005)
Tron series[]
- Tron (1982)
- Discs of Tron (1983)
Unreal Tournament series[]
- Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict (2005)
- Unreal Tournament 3 (2007-2008)
Other Games[]
- Pac-Man (1980)
- Tapper (1983)
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (1995)
- Jackie Chan Stuntmaster (2000)
- Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits (2000-2001)
- The Ant Bully (2006-2007)
- The Lord of the Rings Online (2007)
- Aqua Teen Hunge Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (2007)
- TNA Impact! (2008)
External Links[]
- Midway Liquidating Trust web page
- Official website (from the Internet Archive Wayback machine)
- Midway to Open Casual Games Portal
- Midways Game profile from MobyGames
- August 2009 Gamasutra article