Midway Studios Los Angeles Inc. (formerly known as Paradox Development) was an American-based video game developer. They are best known for fighting games such as the '' X-Men Mutant Academy'' and ''Backyard Wrestling'' franchises, as well as the '' Mortal Kombat'' action game

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

'' Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.'' The team was also responsible for the controversially violent

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

title '' Thrill Kill,'' but the game was later cancelled.

History

CWS Entertainment Ltd./Paradox Development era

Paradox Development was founded in 1994 by Christine Hsu and went on to produce titles for top video game publishers including

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

Virgin Interactive Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwo ...

(later acquired by Electronic Arts),

Interplay Interplay may refer to: * Interplay (John Coltrane album), ''Interplay'' (John Coltrane album), 1957 * Interplay (Bill Evans album), ''Interplay'' (Bill Evans album), 1962 * Interplay (Al Haig album), ''Interplay'' (Al Haig album), 1976 * Interpla ...

, and

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

. In 2004-11-23,

Midway Games Inc. Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage'', '' Spy Hunter'', ...

acquired CWS Entertainment Ltd., whom was doing business as Paradox Development. Midway announced the acquisition 7 days later, by then Paradox Development was developing Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.Deals: Midway Acquires Paradox Development
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Midway Studios – Los Angeles Inc. era

Following the acquisition by Midway, Paradox Development was renamed to Midway Studios – Los Angeles Inc., sometimes called "Midway Los Angeles" or "Midway L.A." In 2008, Midway Los Angeles was relocated and merged with Midway's

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

office. The following year, publisher Midway Games filed for bankruptcy, and in August 2009 the Midway San Diego studio was closed and most of its assets were purchased by publisher THQ, who only offered about 40% of the studio's personnel new positions within the company. Many of the laid-off developers were hired by High Moon Studios.

Developed games

CWS Entertainment Ltd./Paradox Development era

PlayStation

*'' Thrill Kill'' (unreleased) *''

Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots Arena ''Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots Arena'' is a video game developed by Paradox and published by Mattel Interactive for the PlayStation in 2000. Reception The game received mixed reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. David Ch ...

'' *'' Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style'' *'' X-Men: Mutant Academy'' *'' X-Men: Mutant Academy 2'' *'' Disney's The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure''

PlayStation 2

*'' Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood'' *'' Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home'' *'' Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks'' *'' X-Men: Next Dimension''

Xbox

*'' Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood'' *'' Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This At Home'' *'' X-Men: Next Dimension''

Midway Studios - Los Angeles era

PlayStation 2

*'' Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks'' *''

TNA iMPACT! ''Impact!'' (stylized as ''IMPACT!''), also known as ''IMPACT! on AXS TV'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American promotion Impact Wrestling (formerly known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)) tha ...

Xbox

*'' Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks''

Xbox 360

*''

PlayStation 3

*''

Wii

* ''

References

External links

Paradox Development
Midway Games Entertainment companies based in California Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles Video game development companies Video game companies established in 1994 Video game companies disestablished in 2008 Defunct video game companies of the United States 1994 establishments in California 2008 disestablishments in California Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiaries {{US-videogame-company-stub