Amid Midway / Warner Bros. transition, Midway name up in the air
by Ben Gilbert 
{ Jul 13th 2009 at 12:00PM }
According to Mogilner, when WB officially acquired Midway in an auction last month, it not only bought various IP (Mortal Kombat, Spy Hunter, etc.) but also the branding. "They [WB] bought the assets and the trademark and all the copyrights and the logo and all that ... to say the name is dead, it's silly but, ya know, it's premature -- the company Midway Games, Inc. still exists," Mogilner told us. He is, of course, speaking about the remaining studios still owned by Midway -- Midway Newcastle and San Diego among them -- who he says are still up for auction, "At this point, as long as they're open, we can still get bids. We're actively trying to figure out that situation. We were required (and it was prudent) to give notice to the people at those studios." We've contacted Warner Bros. for comment on whether or not it will continue using the Midway name on future ex-Midway products and have yet to hear back as of publishing.
Update: Warner Bros. has responded to our request for comment with, well, no comment. We asked the company if it will be using the Midway name going forward on ex-Midway products, to which WB officially responded, "We [WB] are not yet commenting on Midway." That's all (for now), folks!
[Via Big Download]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Jul 13th 2009 12:20PM
If I were them, I'd be excited to get rid of the name. In most cases, it's synonymous with mediocrity.
MowDownJoe @ Jul 13th 2009 1:03PM
You mean, they only worked mid-way through their games before shipping them?
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Jul 13th 2009 1:12PM
+1 for that one
Jason @ Jul 13th 2009 12:21PM
sell the name to an investor that wants to get into the game biz, To me that brand is irrelevent.
Captain Planet @ Jul 13th 2009 12:22PM
They should change the name to "We Promise To Turn Down The Suck Studios".
ecco6t9 @ Jul 13th 2009 12:30PM
Actually the Warner Bros/WB nameplate has far less value in gaming. I see that name on the box and it's assumed that it's a bad tv or movie game.
Storm Eagle::The Blood Edge @ Jul 13th 2009 12:38PM
Midway has been around for a long time. To simply throw away the name would be foolhardy. I can pick out more than few games I had fun playing the bore the Midway logo. Warner Bros.' on the other hand? Not so many.
Sinnix @ Jul 13th 2009 12:57PM
There have been a lot of better brands lost to consolidation over the years (Westwood, Sierra, etc), Midway isn't that much of a loss.
With the exception of MK, they stopped being relevant a long time ago.
Bowser Rogozhin: Death of a Ladies Man @ Jul 13th 2009 1:04PM
The Midway name is worthless. Nobody will shed a tear if it were to die tomorrow, or something. It's not like they were Acclaim or something of substance.
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Jul 13th 2009 1:13PM
Well, during their later years, Acclaim was just as questionable...
kevin @ Jul 13th 2009 2:52PM
EDIT: While Kevin nicely layed out all the games that Midway has created over the years right here, his list is a bit long. Sorry, Kevin! Why not check out the Midway Games page over on Wikipedia if you're looking for that, eh folks?