History Creator / MidwayGames

With the decline of arcade gaming in the mid-80s, Bally Manufacturing sold Bally/Midway to Williams, which also had their own video game unit with big hits like ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Joust}}'' under their wing, in 1988. For a decade, the Williams/Bally/Midway group, renamed WMS Industies after their stock ticket symbol, continued to manufacture pinball machines under the Williams and Bally labels and video games under the Midway brand.[[note]]Bally Manufacturing continued to own the slot machine business and casinos, along with a chain of health clubs which was bought in 1983 but spun off in 1991 (and closed for good in 2016). The even owned Ride/SixFlags for a time in the early 80s. The company spun off the casino equipment division in 1993, which was bought by another slot maker in 1996, which continued to use the Bally name as a brand until it took the name Bally Technologies in 2006. Meanwhile, the original company, now called Bally Entertainment as it was just a casino owner, not a manufacturer, merged with Hilton's casino division, also in 1996. Hilton spun off that division as Park Place Entertainment (named for the address of the first Bally's casino in Atlantic City), which in turn became Caesars Entertainment through a series of mergers and acquisitions. That company sold the Bally's name and the original AC casino, to Twin Rivers Casinos in 2020, which renamed itself Bally's Corporation, including renaming all their casinos to use the name.[[/note]]

Unfortunately, the TurnOfTheMillennium also brought bad business policies. Midway exited the arcade industry in 2001 in an effort to return to profitability (a group of departed employees led by ''VideoGame/{{Cruisn}}'' series Creator/EugeneJarvis would form a new company, Raw Thrills, as a SpiritualSuccessor to the arcade unit) and two years later shut down their Bay Area studio, Midway Games West – the former Atari Games – effectively killing the last remaining remnant of the original Atari. They also began expensive buyouts of independent game developers to expand their market share. None of these moves helped Midway in any way, and the only way Midway could operate at accelerated losses was through debt offerings that came at the expense of their stock price.

With the decline of arcade gaming in the mid-80s, Bally Manufacturing sold Bally/Midway to Williams, which also had their own video game unit with big hits like ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Joust}}'' under their wing, in 1988. For a decade, the Williams/Bally/Midway group, renamed WMS Industies after their stock ticket symbol, continued to manufacture pinball machines under the Williams and Bally labels and video games under the Midway brand.[[note]]Bally Manufacturing continued to own the slot machine business and casinos, along with a chain of health clubs which was bought in 1983 but spun off in 1991 (and closed for good in 2016). The company spun off the casino equipment division in 1993, which was bought by another slot maker in 1996, which continued to use the Bally name as a brand until it took the name Bally Technologies in 2006. Meanwhile, the original company, now called Bally Entertainment as it was just a casino owner, not a manufacturer, merged with Hilton's casino division, also in 1996. Hilton spun off that division as Park Place Entertainment (named for the address of the first Bally's casino in Atlantic City), which in turn became Caesars Entertainment through a series of mergers and acquisitions. That company sold the Bally's name and the original AC casino, to Twin Rivers Casinos in 2020, which renamed itself Bally's Corporation, including renaming all their casinos to use the name.[[/note]]

In 1998, WMS's success in casino equipment eventually prompted them to spin-off the video game division as Midway Games, with Midway also getting the Williams video game library, while the Bally/Midway pinball copyrights stayed with WMS. WMS shut down the Williams pinball division a year later to focus on the casino business.[note]WMS was bought by fellow casino equipment maker Scientific Games in 2013. Which also bought Bally Technologies a year later. It continues to use both brands. Something ironic about both names winding up together again.[/note]

In the early 90s, Midway had a string of major arcade hits, lead by two types of games in particular: Fighting games which used arcades' more advanced hardware to make photorealistic (and over-the-top violent) graphics like Franchise/MortalKombat (one of the defining hits of the decade) and VideoGame/WarGods, and in-your-face arcade-style sports games like VideoGame/NBAJam and VideoGame/NFLBlitz. Meanwhile, parent WMS Industries followed former parent Bally into the casino equipment business, while still maintaining the pinball business.

With the decline of arcade gaming in the mid-80s, Bally Manufacturing sold Bally/Midway to Williams, which also had their own video game unit with big hits like ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Joust}}'' under their wing, in 1988. For a decade, the Williams/Bally/Midway group, renamed WMS Industies after their stock ticket symbol, continued to manufacture pinball machines under the Williams and Bally labels and video games under the Midway brand.[note]Bally Manufacturing continued to own the slot machine business and casinos, along with a chain of health clubs which was bought in 1983 but spun off in 1991 (and closed for good in 2016). The company spun off the casino equipment division in 1993, which was bought by another slot maker in 1996, which continued to use the Bally name as a brand until it took the name Bally Technologies in 2006. Meanwhile, the original company, now called Bally Entertainment as it was just a casino owner, not a manufacturer, merged with Hilton's casino division, also in 1996. Hilton spun off that division as Park Place Entertainment (named for the address of the first Bally's casino in Atlantic City), which in turn became Caesars Entertainment through a series of mergers and acquisitions. That company sold the Bally's name and the original AC casino, to Twin Rivers Casinos in 2020, which renamed itself Bally's Corporation, including renaming all their casinos to use the name.[/note]

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1''

[[caption-width-right:350:Originally an American distributor, the company later produced games that served as rivals to the major [[Creator/{{Sega}} Japan]][[Creator/{{Namco}} ese]] [[Creator/{{Capcom}} arcade game]] [[Creator/{{Konami}} companies]].]]

Bally, later Bally/Midway and Williams/Bally/Midway, eventually '''Midway Games''' was an American company formerly known for being a major UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame manufacturer, {{Pinball}} creator, and VideoGame publisher and developer.

The company was first founded in 1932 by Raymond Moloney as a subsidiary of Lion Manufacturing. The runaway success of Creator/{{Gottlieb}}'s ''Pinball/BaffleBall'' prompted Lion to [[FollowTheLeader get into the business,]] and Bally Manufacturing Corporation was named after their first "pin game", ''Ballyhoo''. The company had success in making arcade games, slot machines, pinballs, and vending machines. They even operated their own record label for a while in the mid-1950s.

Founded in 1958, Midway Manufacturing Co. began as a manufacturer of [[UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame amusement equipment]], such as [[PhysicalPinballTables pinball machines]], shooting games, and puck games. Bally, meanwhile, dominated the industry in the Fifties and Sixties; by the end of the decade, after cornering the worldwide slot machine market, Bally became a publicly traded company and acquired Midway Manufacturing in 1969.

As Bally/Midway, the company continued to prosper in slot machines, mechanical arcade games, and pinballs. Through the Seventies, they formed a close alliance with Taito, and the two companies regularly licensed their games to each other. Bally/Midway also released the Bally Astrocade in 1977, an early home VideoGame system.

Bally/Midway's big VideoGame success came in 1978 with the popularity of ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders'' (originally developed by Creator/{{Taito}}); they followed that up by successfully distributing many of [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]]'s arcade games, such as ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'' and ''VideoGame/PacMan''. Their biggest coup was taking a ''Pac-Man'' clone named ''Crazy Otto'' and giving it a graphical conversion to create ''VideoGame/MsPacMan''. For nearly a decade, Bally/Midway was the leading producer of arcade video games in the United States. They were also the second-most prolific producer of pinball machines, surpassed only by Creator/WilliamsElectronics.

With the decline of arcade gaming in the mid-80s, the company was acquired by Creator/WilliamsElectronics, who also had their own video game unit with big hits like ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Joust}}'' under their wing, in 1988. For a decade, the Williams/Bally/Midway group, renamed WMS Industies after their stock ticket symbol, continued to manufacture pinball machines under the Williams label, video games under the Midway brand, and slot machines and other casino equipment under the Bally name (which in turn lead to the construction of Bally's branded casino hotels that were later spun off, leading to an at times confusing legacy of companies using the name that are only indirectly descended from the original company).

In the early 90s, Midway had a string of major arcade hits, lead by two types of games in particular: Fighting games which used arcades' more advanced hardware to make photorealistic (and over-the-top violent) graphics like Franchise/MortalKombat (one of the defining hits of the decade) and VideoGame/WarGods, and in-your-face arcade-style sports games like VideoGame/NBAJam and VideoGame/NFLBlitz.

In 1998, WMS's success in casino equipment eventually prompted them to spin-off the video game division as Midway Games, with Midway also getting the Williams video game library, while the Midway pinball copyrights stayed with WMS. (WMS shut down the Williams pinball division a year later to focus on the casino business. The company merged with fellow casino equipment maker Scientific Games in 2016, which continues to use the Bally name.)

Unfortunately, the TurnOfTheMillennium also brought bad business policies. Midway exited the arcade industry in 2001 in an effort to return to profitability (a group of departed employees led by ''Cruis'n'' series Creator/EugeneJarvis would form a new company, Raw Thrills, as a SpiritualSuccessor to the arcade unit) and two years later shut down Midway Games West, the former Atari Games, effectively killing the last remaining remnant of the original Atari. They also began expensive buyouts of independent game developers to expand their market share. None of these moves helped Midway in any way, and the only way Midway could operate at accelerated losses was through debt offerings that came at the expense of their stock price.

[[caption-width-right:350:Originally as an American distributor, the company later produces games that serves as rivals to the [[Creator/{{Sega}} Japan]][[Creator/{{Namco}} ese]] [[Creator/{{Capcom}} arcade game]] [[Creator/{{Konami}} companies]].]]

Bally, later Bally/Midway and Williams/Bally/Midway, eventually '''Midway Games''' is an American company formerly known for being a major UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame manufacturer, {{Pinball}} creator, and VideoGame publisher and developer.

With the decline of arcade gaming in the mid-80s, the company was acquired by Creator/WilliamsElectronics, who also had their own video game unit with big hits like ''VideoGame/{{Defender}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Joust}}'' under their wing, in 1988. For a decade, the Williams/Bally/Midway group continued to manufacture pinball machines under the Williams and Bally labels, reserving the Midway brand for video games. In 1998, Williams' success in lottery and slot machines eventually prompted them to leave the game industry. They spun off the video game division as Midway Games,[[note]]The Bally name would be given to several other entities, and today is most well-known for another company that makes slot machines, Bally Technologies.[[/note]] with Midway merging Williams' video game assets into their own with them and letting go of their own pinball division to Williams. Midway Games acquired and eventually merged with Atari Games Corp. (The successor to Atari's old arcade development division) in the late '90s.

Unfortunately, the TurnOfTheMillennium also brought bad business policies. Midway exited the arcade industry in 2001 in an effort to return to profitability, and two years later shut down Midway Games West (formerly Atari Games Corp), effectively killing the last remaining remnant of the original Atari. They also began expensive buyouts of independent game developers to expand their market share. None of these moves helped Midway in any way, and the only way Midway could operate at accelerated losses was through debt offerings that came at the expense of their stock price.

[[ForegoneConclusion You can imagine how well that went]]. In November 2008, Midway was expelled from the New York Stock Exchange after their stock price fell below $1, leaving them flat-out broke. Despite the generally favorable critical and commercial reception towards ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'', it wound up being their final in-house title (''Wheelman'', the last video game Midway had any involvement in, was published in North America by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}). In February 2009, Midway Games filed for bankruptcy. Their studios in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, Seattle and San Diego were the only three not to get shut down. The former two, along with most of the Midway back catalog (save for the licensed NBA/NHL/MLB/WWE/TNA sports titles- for obvious reasons[[note]]Midway did retain the ''NFL Blitz'' game library and included those in the sale, though ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' developer Creator/ElectronicArts ended up buying the rights to the ''Blitz'' name post-bankruptcy[[/note]]- and the ''Cruis'n'' series of racing games[[note]]The first five titles were either developed or published by them; subsequent games starting with ''Cruis'n Blast'' have been licensed through other companies.[[/note]], which is owned by Creator/{{Nintendo}}), were bought by Creator/WarnerBros, with the Chicago studio rebranded as Creator/NetherrealmStudios and the Seattle studio merged into Creator/MonolithProductions, both in 2010. The San Diego studio was purchased by Creator/{{THQ}} and rebranded THQ Digital Studio San Diego. The studio ultimately closed down in 2011 due to THQ's own troubles.

Midway is best remembered for two types of games: Fighting games which used arcades' more advanced hardware to make brutal fighters like Franchise/MortalKombat and VideoGame/WarGods, and in-your-face arcade-style sports games like VideoGame/NBAJam and VideoGame/NFLBlitz. Up until the mid-90's, they avoided the home market, instead letting Acclaim or Williams/WMS port and publish them. They began to release their games on consoles and eventually left the arcades for good in 2001.

Midway can also be considered the final incarnation of the original Atari, as they owned what became of their old arcade games division (Atari Games).

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat2''

* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts''
** ''Shadow Hearts: Covenant''

[[caption-width-right:350:Originally as an American distributor, the company later produces games that serves as both TakeThat and [[FollowTheLeader knockoffs]] to the [[Creator/{{Sega}} Japan]][[Creator/{{Namco}} ese]] [[Creator/{{Capcom}} arcade game]] [[Creator/{{Konami}} companies]].]]

* ''VideoGame/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy''

* ''VideoGame/BurgerTime''(Originally made by Data East)

* ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot''