Midway

Midway began in 1958 as Midway Manufacturing, an independent maker of amusement machines founded by Henry Ross and Marcine Wolverton. Bally, then a leader in slot machines, bought it in 1969, and in 1973 it moved into arcade video games. Its first big hit came in 1978, when it distributed Taito's Space Invaders in the United States, followed by Namco games such as Galaxian, Pac-Man and Galaga. In 1982 Bally merged its pinball division into the company, which was renamed Bally Midway.

From the late 1970s to the late 1980s it was the leading arcade video game maker in the United States. In 1988 WMS Industries, formerly Williams Electronics, bought Bally Midway, restored the Midway Manufacturing name, reincorporated it in Delaware and moved its headquarters from Franklin Park to Chicago. In 1991 it absorbed Williams' video game division, and in 1996, as it entered the home console market, it became Midway Games. In 1998 WMS spun off its remaining stake to its shareholders, making Midway independent.

Its series included Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, Rampage, Spy Hunter, Cruis'n and NFL Blitz, and it also held the rights to Williams and Atari Games classics such as Defender, Joust, Robotron: 2084 and Gauntlet. In 2000 it ranked fourth among video game publishers by sales, but it lost money every year. It closed its arcade division in 2001 and, in 2003, Midway Games West, formerly Atari Games. In 2004 and 2005 it bought studios including Surreal Software, Inevitable Entertainment, Paradox Development and Ratbag Games, while Sumner Redstone built up a majority stake.

Its last game was Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008). In December that year Redstone sold his 87% stake to investor Mark Thomas, and in February 2009 Midway filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In July 2009 Warner Bros. bought most of its assets, including Mortal Kombat and the Chicago and Seattle studios; the Chicago team later became NetherRealm Studios. THQ took over the San Diego studio and the Newcastle studio closed. The court approved the company's liquidation in May 2010.