Steven Pick, senior GUI artist for Midway Newcastle's Wheelman, gives a painful blow-by-blow of the studio's final days. From the start up on cop drama Necessary Force to its multiple, failed pitches to numerous studios to the final visit Midway CEO Matt Booty, himself axed not long after giving last rites to Midway Newcastle.

Pick doesn't offer a great deal of hope for Necessary Force to ultimately see release, but does touch on the positive impact the in-development open world game had on Midway Newcastle, even if it didn't save the developer. At this point, only UK outlet Edge has seen Necessary Force in action, outside of the development team and a few unnamed publishers.

Hopefully we haven't seen the last of it. It looked interesting—small things, like Necessary Force's moral choices affecting the weather and time of day, for example—if a bit familiar.

I'd highly recommend reading Pick's account of the last days of Midway Newcastle. He paints a sobering picture of the developer's demise, one very humanizing and informative.

Midway Newcastle R.I.P. [Embittered Mutterings]

"We can confirm we closed the Newcastle studio this morning, our time," said Geoffrey Mogilner, Midway spokesman. "During the notification period we were actively searching for bidders, and since we didn't find any unfortunately it was necessary to close it down.

"We tried really hard to find a solution for the Newcastle studio."

Midway CEO Matt Booty traveled to the studio to make the announcement in person to the roughly 80 people let go, Mogilner said. The announcement of the closure came at the end of the notification time required by UK law.

While the Wheelman IP is now owned by Warner Brothers Interactive, along with the Midway trademark and games such as Mortal Kombat and This is Vegas, no one has yet purchased Necessary Force, Mogilner said.

Under California law, Midway's San Diego studio still has until September to find a buyer.

"We are still hoping to find a buyer for the studio," Mogilner said.

The violent cop drama is said to be only a few months old, but currently playable, focusing on a police detective that plays by his own rules—as interesting fictional police detectives are wont to do. Some two dozen-plus pieces of artwork from Necessary Force highlight the game's planned police brutality, but also appear to highlight an actual use of color in the gritty game.

While gritty, ultra-violent open world police dramas aren't necessarily my "thing," the title looks interesting. It's intriguing if only for the reason that we're getting a peek at the game's artwork and visual design before any real chance of release, not as some post mortem highlighting what could have been.

Artwork [Necessary Force]

So Midway Newcastle, developers of the coolly received Vin Diesel vehicle Wheelman, is looking for a buyer, pitching its originally developed intellectual property Necessary Force along with it. The developer is trying to drum up interest by launching a web site promoting the game, highlighting the game's art style and Necessary Force's rugged detective who plays by his own rules.

Necessary Force looks to expand upon the foundation built for Wheelman, with studio head Craig Duncan telling Develop that the team has "about 35 man years of tech on top of base Unreal [Engine]" and an already playable game on their hands.

The in-development open world action game's trailer shows no gameplay, but does show some interesting facets of the title. It looks like there will be a changing city, as the trailer showcases a dilapidated building transforming from rundown slum to sleek apartment. It also shows off a little torture—or coercion tactics, if you prefer.

According to Duncan, there's publisher interest in Necessary Force, but a lack of money. "The whole industry is struggling, really," he tells Develop.

Of course, considering that Midway's big investment in these big budget and massive open world action games like Wheelman, This Is Vegas and Stranglehold are partly to blame for its current financial woes, one may be able to understand a publisher's hesitance to sign on. But we obviously wish them the best of luck.

Midway Newcastle reveals new IP as it seeks buyer [Develop]
Necessary Force [Official Site]