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EVE Online devs opening new UK studio
Other than birthing one of our favorite female singers and one of our favorite unicorns, Iceland isn't a country that comes up a lot around Joystiq. Today, however, we've got one such occasion where Iceland-based CCP -- developer of EVE Online and upcoming MMO FPS Dust 514 -- was able to bring our Scandinavian friends to the front page. According to a GamesIndustry.biz report, the developer is expanding, announcing plans to open a new studio in Newcastle, UK. Apparently the studio will be "initially targeting" a 10 - 20 person head count, with a handful of ex-Midway Newcastle employees being picked up in the process. Additionally, the company confirmed that the UK-based offices would be targeting "current and future" console projects, rather than the PC-focused content CCP has been known for in the past. Presumably, this means the aforementioned MMO FPS, said to be headed to current-gen systems. With a mess of trade shows in the not-so-distant future, we'll likely see what CCP has cooking fairly soon.
From the ashes of Midway Newcastle, Atomhawk Design rises
One of our favorite things about the game industry (not the game business, mind you) is its unflappable resilience. Take, for instance, the story of Midway Newcastle. Even after the staff got a 60-day warning of the studio's imminent closure and was shut down preemptively, some members of the team were able to band together and form a new company, Atomhawk Design.Billing itself as "a leading creative visualization and digital art production company," Atomhawk plans on creating digital art for not just video games, but also "film and online." We're not sure how much of the ex-Midway Newcastle folks made the jump to the new company, but we've asked Atomhawk for comment.
Silver lining: THQ acquires 40 percent of Midway San Diego employees, maybe more
You've been reading an awful lot about Midway business minutiae over the last six months, so we won't bore you with too many unexciting details about THQ buying Midway's San Diego studio for $200k last week. The most important thing for you to know is that out of 100 employees, 40 have been offered jobs by THQ, and more positions may be opening, the Chicago Tribune reports. According to the SEC filing, the TNA iMPACT! license wasn't part of the deal, a strange omission considering THQ publishes UFC games. The deal is all but finalized, awaiting Midway's bankruptcy court's approval and an agreement between THQ and Warner Bros. over the sharing of certain undisclosed IPs (the terms of which have already been settled). Considering the sad tale surrounding the shuttering of Midway Newcastle, we're glad to finally be writing something somewhat positive in the wake of Midway's collapse.[Via Kotaku]
Ex-Midway Newcastle dev spills the beans on the studio's closure
GUI artist Steven Pick has detailed on his blog the last five or so months of working at Wheelman developer Midway Newcastle (with heartbreaking detail, might we add). In doing so he reveals the various happenings at the developer while things at Midway HQ were falling apart. "The company was still operating as normal, but the Chapter 11 thing was like a silent dread-spectre hovering over all of us," Pick says of the February bankruptcy filings. And as for Necessary Force, the IP from Midway Newcastle that was revealed not too long ago? "We got to a point where the game could be pitched - at the same time, we had a 60 day notice through from the London office," Pick says. Unfortunately, the pitches fell through and the game disappeared -- aside from a handful of Edge Magazine writers who saw it, that is.Though he notes that a group of employees were picked up prior to the studio's closure by Crackdown 2 dev Ruffian Games, the remaining employees in Newcastle were caught off guard by a surprise early studio closure -- a surprise that brought with it the news that they wouldn't be receiving their final paychecks. In all honesty, it would be impossible to do Mr. Pick's entire story justice in a concise blog post, so do yourself a favor and give the whole thing a read at his site.[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
Midway Newcastle drains the moat, shuts down
Try as it might, Midway Newcastle (Wheelman, Necessary Force) has apparently closed down, thanks to Midway's corporate incompetence and a lack of interest by new overlords at Warner Bros. Develop reports that the studio received the news this morning from Midway CEO Matt Booty -- an "insolvency team" was there to close the studio as soon as possible.That leaves the fate of Midway San Diego still hanging in the balance. Hopefully the 70 or so folks from Newcastle can find jobs soon. We hear that Realtime Worlds is hiring like crazy, and perhaps the team at Ruffian could use some help on Crackdown 2?
Midway studios not acquired by WB to shut down within 60 days
It appears as though recent reports were incorrect, as Midway confirmed to Joystiq this morning that the studios not picked up by Warner Bros. in the acquisition bid have 60 days until they're out of work. From Midway Newcastle (Wheelman, Necessary Force) to Midway San Diego (TNA) and various "old sports titles" (Blitz, NBA Ballers) in between, anyone looking to pick up the remaining studios has roughly two months to do so."We had a court hearing yesterday and the end result of that is the sale was approved and the closing will occur within the next 10 days," a Midway representative told us, continuing, "Since we didn't get any bids for the San Diego assets, we actually gave the employees a required 60-day warning." According to the US Department of Labor, employees of 100 or more person companies must be warned 60 days prior to being let go due to "plant closure" (or studio closure, in this case). Midway remains positive on the San Diego studio, saying, "For now those employees are continuing to work and it's still entirely possible that a bidder could come in and acquire the San Diego assets." When asked what would happen to the TNA license if the studio did go under, Midway was unsure. Maybe THQ and its fancy new business plan can help a brotha out?
Tigon's Ian Stevens: For Hollywood, 'making video games has been the same thing as making action figures'
Running Tigon Studios is a bit of a strange job to have. Ian Stevens, the man in charge, is responsible for not just organizing development talent to make games like this year's Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, but also working with Hollywood. And, unsurprisingly, he says it's a bit of an uphill battle, telling GamesIndustry.biz, "It's really hard to take something that's native to a certain medium and just draw a line, which is what people are usually trying to do [with games based on movies.]" He equates the attention Hollywood has been giving to game versions of its films with "action figures, pictures on cereal boxes, and [themed] pajamas," saying it's just part of the "licensing and merchandising" of a property, rather than creating something unique and well-crafted from the start. Furthermore, Stevens says that the development studios who are working with nothing (think Ben 10) and making something -- anything -- out of it, are the real talent in the industry. "If you gave that team in Newcastle [Midway Newcastle] - through all that they've struggled with, technology, corporate business, all these different things - the kind of opportunity that someone like Valve has," he says, leaving us to postulate on the ending there. We'll let you guys fill that in all by yourselves.
New Necessary Force artwork is gritty-pretty
You are by now likely familiar with the story behind Necessary Force, an open-world action game being made by Midway Newcastle, which has until month's end to find a buyer or face closure. We dug a debut trailer unveiled last week, and we're equally into some concept art added to the game's official site.Could someone please step in here? We know times are tight, but we really want to play this, and Joystiq Publishing has all its liquid capital in N-Gage development (no, we don't want to talk about it).
Midway Newcastle reveals new IP: Necessary Force
It seems a certain beleaguered studio listened to our humble suggestion! Midway Newcastle, one of the splinter studios that wasn't rescued in the Warner Bros. buyout of Midway, just revealed its formerly unannounced open-world action game in an attempt to drum up buyers before the developer is forced to close down in just 13 days. The new IP is called Necessary Force -- a "gritty detective drama" about a cop who "sets his own rules." So, like Nash Bridges, only grittier.Details about the game are slim, though three months of development have resulted in a gameplay-free teaser trailer (seen above). What do you guys think? Is this the ace in the hole Midway Newcastle needed to stave off the reaper?
Two Midway studios facing possible closure in two weeks
If you've got an extra few million bucks lying around, we can think of a couple of video game development studios that could really use it. According to a recent report from Guardian.uk, Midway's Newcastle and San Diego studios are facing closure if they can't find buyers by the end of June. For those whose extended WoW sessions have left them chronologically unaware, that's just two weeks from today.The Guardian's article focuses on the Newcastle studio -- creators of the recently released Diesel-fest Wheelman -- which is trying to stave off death by finding investors for its unannounced open-world action game. We're far from financial experts, but perhaps keeping said project under wraps isn't the best way to attract suitors in such a brief timeframe. Just, you know, a suggestion.[Via CVG]
Pontiac G8 still in Wheelman despite brand's dire outlook
MTV Multiplayer has pointed out that, although GM's Pontiac line is slowly bleeding out as a casualty of the US economic downturn, Midway's Ubisoft's upcoming Vin Diesel vehicle, Wheelman, will still feature one of its rides: the Pontiac G8. Oh, and there's also a Saturn -- well, the Opel Astra -- in it, evidently. Saturn is no more. (Though last we checked the planet was still there.)At this point, you're probably asking yourself, "Where's the news?" Funny you should ask. It's doubtful that Wheelman will be the last game to feature a Pontiac. Heck, there are all shapes and sizes of racing sims coming out in the next few months, some or all of which will probably feature the GM-owned brand. And lest we forget Transformers: Rise of the Fallen: The Game. (Autobots only wear GM.) It would have been more newsworthy -- not to mention quite cruel -- if Ubisoft announced it was yanking both cars from the game and keeping whatever money Midway was paid to advertise include them.
Wheelman dev calls PS3 a 'pain in the ass,' Xbox a 'dumb PC'
Did you know that some developers consider the PS3 difficult to develop for? You can add the Wheelman team at Midway Newcastle to that list, following candid comments by the game's executive producer.Appearing on the This Xbox Life podcast, Shaun Himmerick was questioned on developing for 360 and PS3, to which he responded, "The politically incorrect answer is that the PS3 is a huge pain in the ass. Anyone making a game, if you're going to make it for both, just lead on the PS3 because if it works on the PS3, it'll work on 360.""We had to play catch up on the PS3 because of the memory constraints and how it renders -- how it processes is just different. And it's harder on the PS3," Himmerick continued. "The Xbox is just like a dumb PC, which is great because it's easier to build a game on a PC." Somehow, we don't think Vin Diesel would appreciate anyone whining about making his game. In fact, if he'd listened to said podcast, he'd probably be on his way to Newcastle right now to give them something to really cry about ... and maybe the latest PS3 SDK.[Via D+PAD]
Midway: Wheelman devs still behind the wheel
Just days after a new trailer and screens were released for the delayed Vin Diesel ... vehicle, Wheelman, some rumors evidently surfaced (emphasis on the "evidently" since this is the first we'd heard of it) that Midway was planning on shuttering the very studio behind its development. Not so, says Midway CEO Matt Booty (who should really call Ratchet, who recently embarked on a quest for him)."Newcastle is a very important studio for us" Booty told GamesIndustry, adding, "We just brought in a new studio head, Craig Duncan, formerly with Codemasters, so I think those two things are an indication that we've got a very strong commitment to that studio." Booty (it's fun to say!) also went as far as to call Wheelman "a front line important game for [Midway] in the first half of 2009."Booty then abruptly bolted out of the building, hopped into a running car driven by none other than Diesel himself, and quickly sped away. At least that's how we would have liked to see the interview wrap up. [Via Big Download]
