Mortal Kombat studio renamed WB Games Chicago

Midway’s team behind the popular Mortal Kombat franchise (amongst other things) has been renamed WB Games Chicago by Warner Bros., according to published reports. The new name surfaced when several employees updated their LinkedIn profiles with the new company name. Warner Bros. purchased the studio and the Mortal Kombat brand for an estimated 33 million USD.

Of particular note is the LinkedIn profile of former Midway Chief Technology Officer, Michael Weilbacher, whose new title is “Head of a Game studio in Chicago at WB Games Inc.”

‘Nuff said.

Midway Sale to Warner Bros. Deal Approved

Chicago-based Midway, a once powerful gaming giant, has now gained approval to sell to Warner Bros. for $33 million. A Delaware bankruptcy judge found that all outstanding issues with the sale have been resolved and proceedings can move forward. The sale will cover “substantially all” of Midway’s assets to Warner Bros., the only company to place a bid.

If the sale goes through, Warner Bros. would assume control of the intellectual property for Mortal Kombat, Wheelman and most other current and older Midway assets. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty psyched about the thought of Mortal Kombat vs. F.E.A.R. or Wanted vs. Blitz.

Ubisoft Pulls I Am Alive From Darkworks

Not a whole lot is known about Ubisoft’s upcoming title, I Am Alive. This morning, though, we learned at least one new thing about the survival (not to be confused with survival horror) game … that it’s no longer being handled by Darkworks. According to a statement released today by Ubisoft, the game has been pulled from the French developer, and is now being finished up by Ubisoft Shanghai in order to meet the game’s recently revised 2010 release date. The move seems eerily similar to the move Namco was forced to pull with developer Bottle Rocket over its upcoming Splatterhouse remake.

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