Midway Games

For the games seen at fairs and carnivals, see Midway (fair).
Midway Games Inc.
FormerlyMidway Manufacturing (1958–1982, 1988–1996)
Bally Midway (1982–1988)
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: MWY
Industry
FoundedNovember 1, 1958; 66 years ago (1958-11-01)[1]
Founders
  • Henry Ross
  • Marcine Wolverton
DefunctJune 9, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-06-09)
FateChapter 11 bankruptcy; majority of assets were sold to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
SuccessorWarner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Key people
Matt Booty[2] (President and CEO)
ProductsMs. Pac-Man
Spy Hunter
Rampage
Mortal Kombat
NBA Jam
Cruis'n
NFL Blitz
RevenueIncrease US$219.6 million (FY 2008)[3]
Decrease -US$191.0 million (FY 2008)[3]
OwnerBally Manufacturing (1969–1988)
WMS Industries, Inc. (1988–1998)
Number of employees
540[3] (February 2009)

Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known simply as Midway) was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included Mortal Kombat, Rampage, Spy Hunter, NBA Jam, Cruis'n and NFL Blitz. Midway also acquired the rights to video games that were originally developed by WMS Industries and Atari Games, such as Defender, Joust, Robotron: 2084, Gauntlet and the Rush series.

The company was founded as Midway Manufacturing in 1958, as an amusement game manufacturer. The company was then purchased by Bally Manufacturing in 1969. In 1973, Midway 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. Bally then consolidated its pinball division with Midway in 1982, which was renamed Bally/Midway. In 1988, Bally Manufacturing sold its amusement games operations to WMS Industries, the former Williams Electronics, which used the plain Midway name for video games while using the Bally and Williams names for pinball.

In 1994, WMS purchased Tradewest to bring publishing of home video game market in-house, with the latter becoming Midway Home Entertainment in 1996, the same year that Midway made its initial public offering of stock. In 1998, WMS spun off its remaining shares of Midway. Midway was ranked the fourth largest-selling video game publisher in 2000.[4] However it experienced large annual net losses and engaged in a series of stock and debt offerings and other financings and borrowings. Midway exited the arcade industry in 2001. Sumner Redstone, the head of Viacom and CBS Corporation, increased his stake in Midway from about 15% in 1998 to about 87% by the end of 2007.[5] In December 2008, Redstone sold all his stock and $70 million of Midway debt to Mark Thomas, a private investor, for $100,000.[6]

In February 2009, Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[7] Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment acquired most of Midway's assets, and Midway settled with Mark Thomas to relinquish his Midway stock and debt.[8][9] The U.S. District Court in Chicago dismissed a lawsuit alleging that former officers of Midway misled shareholders while selling their own stock.[10] In 2010, the bankruptcy court dismissed claims against Redstone concerning his sale of the company to Thomas and approved Midway's plan of liquidation.[11] Midway terminated the public registration of its securities on June 9, 2010.[12]

  1. ^ "Form Midway Mfg. Company". The Cash Box. Vol. 20, no. 9. The Cash Box Publishing. November 15, 1958. p. 16.
  2. ^ "Matt Booty named President and CEO of Midway Games". Games Industry. October 31, 2008. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Midway Games Inc 2008 Annual Report - Form 10-K - April 6, 2009" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  4. ^ Hong, Quang. "Midway Fourth". Gamasutra, February 1, 2000, accessed April 5, 2011
  5. ^ "Midway Games Form 10-K". Sec.gov. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  6. ^ "Redstone sells Midway Games to ease debt", Reuters, December 1, 2008
  7. ^ "IGN story: Midway files for bankruptcy". Uk.xbox360.ign.com. February 12, 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  8. ^ Midway Games Inc. Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 16, 2009
  9. ^ Bathon, Michael. "Redstone, Board Win Dismissal of Midway Creditor Suit", Business Week, February 3, 2010
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sandra was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Bathon, Michael. "Midway Games Wins Court Approval of Liquidating Plan". Business Week, May 21, 2010
  12. ^ Form 15: Midway Games Inc. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed June 9, 2010