Midway's European operations are not part of its chapter 11 reorganization, which means the devs there, having finished up on Wheelman, are looking ahead to other things. Like an open-world game expanding on Wheelman's technology.
In an interview with Play.tm, Simon Woodroffe of Midway Newcastle said his team is pressing on under the assumption that what it builds will be published - as Wheelman was, although Ubisoft came in to take the title to market once Midway hit bankruptcy last year. Woodroffe is the lead designer and creative director on the next effort, which he'll only describe as "open-world for sure."
"We need to build on the technology we've used in Wheelman," he said, calling Wheelman a building block in the studio's goal of becoming "genuinely competitive with the big open-world games. ... You can't do that in one iteration, you have to take steps. We'll build our skills gradually. Hopefully what we offer in Wheelman is something a bit different."
He's not sure, or wouldn't say, if Ubisoft will continue to publish Midway-developed titles. But he did comment on the last-minute relationship with Ubi and Wheelman. "They'll do a great job of bringing this game to market. Its a new IP. Ubisoft will deal with any negative connotations well. As a designer you want as many people as possible to play your game, if this helps that then great. They're a great company with quality products."
Simon Woodroffe on Wheelman and Beyond [Play.tm]