Surprise deal will see the traditionally console-centric company publish one of PC gaming"s premier franchises, possibly for next-gen consoles.
In a move that shocked the industry, Midway Games announced it has struck a multigame deal with Unreal developer Epic Games. The multiyear agreement will see Midway publish the next two PC Unreal games, as well as the Xbox-exclusive Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, due in February 2005. In an analyst conference call today, company president and CEO David Zucker said the deal could cover "expansion packs and potential next-generation console releases as well."
In a statement, Midway was eager to point out that the deal "marks Midway"s entrance into the premium PC games sector with a property that has sold more than 7 million units worldwide." Indeed, the Unreal deal marks the first major foray into the PC game sector for the traditionally console-centric company. Only a handful of games from Midway"s catalog are for the PC, the majority of which are poorly reviewed ports of its arcade titles. The company has looked to other companies to help publish the PC versions of its titles. Most recently, it copublished the PC version of The Suffering with Encore Software.