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Midway Games
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 Taito's Space Invaders in 1978, which it followed up by licensing Namco games such as Galaxian (1979), Pac-Man (1980), and Galaga (1981). 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; 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, head of Viacom and 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 private investor Mark Thomas for $100,000.
In February 2009, Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment acquired most of the company's assets, 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 on June 9, 2010.
Midway Mfg. Co. began in 1958 as an independent manufacturer of amusement equipment founded by Henry Ross and Marcine Wolverton. It was purchased by Bally in 1969. Bally, at that time, was a leader in the manufacture of slot machines. After some years making mechanical arcade games such as puck bowling and simulated western shoot-out, Midway became an early American maker of arcade video games. Throughout the 1970s, Midway had a close alliance with Japanese video game publisher Taito, with both companies regularly licensing their games to each other for distribution in their respective country.
Meanwhile, Midway's breakthrough success came in 1978, with the licensing and distribution of Taito's seminal arcade game Space Invaders in America. This was followed by Midway's licensing and distributing the U.S. version of Namco's Pac-Man in 1980, and its sequel, Ms. Pac-Man, in 1982. Also in 1982, Midway became Bally Midway Mfg. Co. after Bally merged its pinball division with Midway. Three games released that year, including Satan's Hollow, were the first to feature the Bally/Midway brand. From the late 1970s through the late 1980s, Midway was the leading producer of arcade video games in the United States. In 1983, Bally Midway acquired arcade manufacturing assets of Sega Electronics from Gulf and Western Industries, and through the purchase also gained distribution rights to arcade games developed by Sega Enterprises, Ltd. in the United States for two years which included titles such as Astron Belt, Flicky, Future Spy, and Up 'N Down.
Bally Midway was purchased in 1988 by the arcade and pinball game company Williams Electronics Games through its holding company WMS Industries, Inc. and its name was changed back to Midway Manufacturing. Midway moved its headquarters from Franklin Park, Illinois, to Williams's then-headquarters in Chicago, and WMS reincorporated Midway as a Delaware corporation. Although WMS retained many R&D employees from the original Midway, only two game designers were retained: Rampage designers Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman. WMS obtained the right from Bally to use the "Bally" brand for its pinball games since Bally had completely left the arcade/pinball industry to concentrate on casinos and slot machines.
Under WMS ownership, Midway initially continued to produce arcade games under the Bally/Midway label, while producing pinball machines under the "Bally" brand. In 1991, however, Midway absorbed Williams' video game division and stopped using the "Bally/Midway" label for its arcade games. In 1992, the company's The Addams Family machine became the best selling pinball game of all time. In 1996, WMS purchased Time Warner Interactive, which included Atari Games, originally a part of Atari, Inc. Also in 1996, Midway changed its original corporate name, Midway Manufacturing, to Midway Games Inc., due to its entrance in the home console market. This was facilitated by WMS transferring its former home console division, Williams Entertainment, Inc., to Midway. The division had previously been known as Tradewest, which WMS had acquired along with its subsidiary Leland Corporation in 1994. The original arcade division of the company became Midway Amusement Games and the newly created home division was named Midway Home Entertainment.
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Midway Games
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 Taito's Space Invaders in 1978, which it followed up by licensing Namco games such as Galaxian (1979), Pac-Man (1980), and Galaga (1981). 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; 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, head of Viacom and 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 private investor Mark Thomas for $100,000.
In February 2009, Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment acquired most of the company's assets, 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 on June 9, 2010.
Midway Mfg. Co. began in 1958 as an independent manufacturer of amusement equipment founded by Henry Ross and Marcine Wolverton. It was purchased by Bally in 1969. Bally, at that time, was a leader in the manufacture of slot machines. After some years making mechanical arcade games such as puck bowling and simulated western shoot-out, Midway became an early American maker of arcade video games. Throughout the 1970s, Midway had a close alliance with Japanese video game publisher Taito, with both companies regularly licensing their games to each other for distribution in their respective country.
Meanwhile, Midway's breakthrough success came in 1978, with the licensing and distribution of Taito's seminal arcade game Space Invaders in America. This was followed by Midway's licensing and distributing the U.S. version of Namco's Pac-Man in 1980, and its sequel, Ms. Pac-Man, in 1982. Also in 1982, Midway became Bally Midway Mfg. Co. after Bally merged its pinball division with Midway. Three games released that year, including Satan's Hollow, were the first to feature the Bally/Midway brand. From the late 1970s through the late 1980s, Midway was the leading producer of arcade video games in the United States. In 1983, Bally Midway acquired arcade manufacturing assets of Sega Electronics from Gulf and Western Industries, and through the purchase also gained distribution rights to arcade games developed by Sega Enterprises, Ltd. in the United States for two years which included titles such as Astron Belt, Flicky, Future Spy, and Up 'N Down.
Bally Midway was purchased in 1988 by the arcade and pinball game company Williams Electronics Games through its holding company WMS Industries, Inc. and its name was changed back to Midway Manufacturing. Midway moved its headquarters from Franklin Park, Illinois, to Williams's then-headquarters in Chicago, and WMS reincorporated Midway as a Delaware corporation. Although WMS retained many R&D employees from the original Midway, only two game designers were retained: Rampage designers Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman. WMS obtained the right from Bally to use the "Bally" brand for its pinball games since Bally had completely left the arcade/pinball industry to concentrate on casinos and slot machines.
Under WMS ownership, Midway initially continued to produce arcade games under the Bally/Midway label, while producing pinball machines under the "Bally" brand. In 1991, however, Midway absorbed Williams' video game division and stopped using the "Bally/Midway" label for its arcade games. In 1992, the company's The Addams Family machine became the best selling pinball game of all time. In 1996, WMS purchased Time Warner Interactive, which included Atari Games, originally a part of Atari, Inc. Also in 1996, Midway changed its original corporate name, Midway Manufacturing, to Midway Games Inc., due to its entrance in the home console market. This was facilitated by WMS transferring its former home console division, Williams Entertainment, Inc., to Midway. The division had previously been known as Tradewest, which WMS had acquired along with its subsidiary Leland Corporation in 1994. The original arcade division of the company became Midway Amusement Games and the newly created home division was named Midway Home Entertainment.