Midway snap up the US developer behind Area 51 and re-brand as Midway Studios Austin…

Midway today announced the acquisition of Texas-based Inevitable Entertainment, the developer currently working on the forthcoming Area 51.

The terms of the agreement saw Midway acquire the privately-held stock for a transaction of 218, 421 Midway’s common shares. As a result of the agreement the studio will be renamed as Midway Studios Austin, and accelerates Midway’s previous announced plans to open an Austin studio and increase their internal development resources.

Midway president and chief executive officer David F. Zucker commented, "In acquiring Inevitable Entertainment, we have added an extremely creative development group to our product development organization and furthered our ability to deliver high-quality, compelling content. Our increased internal product development capabilities offer an important balance and blend with our external development partners, and enable us to continue to publish critically and commercially successful software for current and future systems."

In addition to shares issued for the acquisition of Inevitable Entertainment, a total of 152,824 restricted shares of Midway common stock were issued to key Inevitable employees as retention incentives. The restrictions on the stock will lapse in stages over a period of three years, provided the employee remains employed by the Company. The Inevitable employees who received restricted shares were: Daryl Allison, Steve Broumley, Russell Byrd, Pete Franco, Craig Galley, Matt Green, Cyrus Lum, Aaron Smischney, Jim Stiefelmaier, Michael Traub, and Andy Thyssen.