Midway rebranded Tradewest Games by new owner
Newly acquired London and Paris offices to operate under new name
The newly acquired London and Paris arms of international game publisher Midway Games Inc will, from today, operate under the names Tradewest Games Ltd and Tradewest Games SAS, the company has announced.
News yesterday confirmed a management buyout had successfully been completed by Martin Spiess, Midway Games Inc executive VP. The exec acquired ownership of the UK and French offices of the defunct Midway Games Inc, while the German arm of the business was bought up by Uwe Fürstenberg, Midway's general manager, and Hans Meyer, its finance director.
In additional to his purchase of both European offices, which Spiess plans to run as a publishing and distribution business, the exec also acquired the rights to well-known North American games brand Tradewest.
Tradewest operated between 1986 - 1994 before being taken over by WMS Industries, the then-proprietor of the Midway and Williams brands, and rebranded Williams Entertainment; subsequently Midway Home Entertainment in 1996.
"We are very glad to have acquired the rights to such an internationally well-known brand of such tradition in the gaming industry," said Martin Spiess.
"Under the name Tradewest Games we will as of now be acting as a European full service provider in the fields of game distribution and publishing. We have access to a wide-reaching global network of game developers and international partners from all relevant areas of the games industry.
"First and foremost, however, there's a well-experienced European team behind Tradewest Games that has proven its expertise and know-how in the past years by bringing to market some of the biggest games projects in the world."
The ailing Midway Games was bought by Warner Bros at the start of July, but several of the company's assets and divisions were not included in the deal, including the company's San Diego and Newcastle studios and European divisions.