Report: Midway Chicago Becomes WB Games Chicago

Now that Midway's officially under the Warner Bros. umbrella, it looks like WB has christened the Chicago studio, home of Mortal Kombat, with its moniker. Midway Games Chicago is now WB Games Chicago, according to reports. A sharp-eyed blogger spotted LinkedIn user profiles noting "WB Games Chicago" as the studio's new name, and including "WB Games Chicago" alongside Monolith Productions, Snowblind Studios and Surreal Software in WB's portfolio of owned developers. Warner Bros. finalized its acquisition of Midway earlier this month to the tune of $49 million all told, and shortly thereafter, closed Midway's Chicago corporate office, separate from the development studio. In the office closure, 20 percent of Midway's work force, including CEO Matt Booty, were laid off. The embattled publisher encountered critical status last year when the credit crunch hit longtime backer Sumner Redstone, leading Midway to confront massive debt and legal issues wth its bondholders. Midway can now write of between $69 and $76 million of its massive debt, and will also be able to write down some $41 million in assets lost in the acquisition.