Midway San Diego loses its development director

The former development director of what was Midway San Diego has left the company, following buyout deals with Warner Bros and THQ.

Experienced game developer Mark Caldwell had been development director at Midway San Diego since 2005, contributing to around twenty projects including Unreal Tournament 3 (developed by Epic) and Lord of the Rings Online (developed by Turbine).

As San Diego’s owning publisher Midway hurtled towards bankruptcy last year, a large chunk of the international company was bought out by entertainment enterprise Warner Bros. As Caldwell’s San Diego offices were not included in the deal, the studio was heading for permanent closure, before THQ swooped in and pledged to take on the outfit.

Caldwell, however, will not be part of THQ’s San Diego plans. He has joined development contractor Pacific Beach Digital to serve as its CEO.

Pacific Beach Digital, founded in 2005, has been outsourced for production assistance on titles such as Stranglehold and Hour of Victory. 

The developer is based in the Californian city of San Diego, yet its link with Midway goes beyond proximity; Pacific Beach Digital had partnered with Midway San Diego during Epic’s work on Unreal Tournament 3, though to what extent the two groups contributed to a precious Epic IP remains uncertain.

It does mean however that Caldwell has already experienced working with his new company.

Caldwell was also the co-founder of New World Computing, the makers of Heroes of Might & Magic. He also served as VP of Development at The 3DO Company, and later founded the short-lived publisher Rapid Eye Entertainment, which saw the release of Lords of Everquest.