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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]
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?
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]
