TNA Impact! 2 (lost build of unfinished professional wrestling game; 2009)

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Tnaimpact1.jpg

Cover art for TNA Impact!

Status: Lost

TNA Impact! is a professional wrestling game developed and published by Midway Games in September 2008. Based on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), the game proved successful, selling 1.5 million units. Later in 2008, Midway Games announced a sequel to the game with an intended release in 2009, but the game was cancelled following Midway Games' bankruptcy.

Background

TNA's relationship with Midway Games began on 7th November, 2005, when the two companies forged a multi-year deal to produce professional wrestling games.[1] With the assistance of various TNA wrestlers during brainstorming and motion capturing sessions,[2] Midway Games' first TNA game, TNA Impact!, would be released in September 2008.[3] Selling around 1.5 million units across the PlayStation 2 and 3, Wii and Xbox,[4] the game received generally mixed reception by critics.[5]

In December 2008, a Midway representative confirmed to GameSpot that the company was beginning work on a sequel, although no features nor platforms the game was intended to be released on were discussed. Nevertheless, it was confirmed that Midway intended to release it sometime in 2009.[6] In an interview with ESPN, wrestler Samoa Joe discussed development of TNA Impact! 2, having previously been influential in the original game's development. He claimed that motion-capturing and brainstorming sessions had been conducted, as well as a mock-up of the game to showcase its progress. He stated many features wrestling fans wanted for the game had been included, enhancing gameplay beyond the original which ultimately ended up losing three months of development because of Midway's financial situation.[7]

Cancellation

Despite TNA Impact!'s success, Midway was in poor financial shape in 2008, which likely forced the company to hasten the game's development for an early release.[8] Ultimately, even though TNA Impact! sold well, it was not enough for Midway to financially sustain itself, as in February 2009, it filed for bankruptcy protection as it could not pay back accelerated debt obligations. These obligations arose from Sumner Redstone selling a majority stake in the company in December 2008.[9] According to the bankruptcy filing, Midway had accumulated debts of $281 million by 30th September, 2008.[10]

On 21st May, 2009, Warner Bros. placed a $33 million bid to purchase the assets of Midway Games. Ultimately, this did not include the rights to produce and publish TNA games, leaving TNA Impact! 2's future uncertain.[11] While SouthPeak Games announced it acquired the licence on 11th November, 2009,[12] the only title it would release was TNA Impact!: Cross the Line for the Nintendo DS and PSP in June 2010, which was essentially a port of TNA Impact! from the gold masters they acquired.[13] Thus, TNA Impact! 2 was quietly cancelled.

Availability

Based on Samoa Joe's comments, a build of TNA Impact! 2 was likely made prior to cancellation. However, no build of the game has ever resurfaced. Additionally, none of the motion capture work has ever been publicly released.

As a result of financial difficulties, Midway Games sold their development studio in San Diego to THQ in August 2009 for $200,000.[14] In March 2011, the San Diego studio released WWE All-Stars (as THQ San Diego), which some described as being very similar in game physics to the TNA game due to it being the same developer.[15] SouthPeak's purchase in November 2009 did not include the underlying assets and elements of the first TNA game, such as art files, music files, source code or motion capture data.[16] So with THQ going bankrupt in 2013, it is entirely possible that Take-Two Interactive / 2K Games (who purchased the WWE license from THQ) could hold the unreleased TNA assets, or it could be possible that THQ Nordic acquired the unreleased TNA assets as they acquired all left-over properties from THQ at the end of the asset sales.[17] SouthPeak Games quietly went defunct in July 2013, meaning its unknown what happened to whatever TNA assets they held.[18]

See Also

References

  1. Wrestle View reporting on the TNA-Midway deal. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  2. GameSpot reporting on the wrestlers' contributions towards TNA Impact!. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  3. GameSpot reporting on TNA Impact!'s release. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  4. Indian Television where TNA President Dixie Carter announced the game had sold around 1.5 million copies. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  5. Metacritic score of the PlayStation 3 version of TNA Impact!. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  6. GameSpot reporting on confirmation of TNA Impact! 2's development. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  7. ESPN article where Samoa Joe discussed development of TNA Impact! 2. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  8. GameSpot reporting on Midway Games' losses in 2008. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  9. CBS News reporting on Midway Games' financial situation in December 2008. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  10. NBC News reporting on Midway Games filing for bankruptcy protection. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  11. Wrestle View reporting on the Warner Bros. deal not including the TNA games licence. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  12. Games Industry reporting on SouthPeak Games acquiring the TNA games licence. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  13. Games Radar review of TNA Impact!: Cross the Line. Retrieved 14 Dec '21
  14. https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/08/10/thq-acquires-midway-san-diego
  15. https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/news/allstars/wwe-all-stars-sequel-was-supposed-to-happen-details-cut-features
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20210713190307/https://www.lawinsider.com/contracts/2fFuw2ikutJUC7UE2sE3fU/midway-games-inc/asset-purchase-agreement/2009-10-15
  17. https://www.polygon.com/2013/4/22/4252414/nordic-games-thq-ip-auction-darksiders-red-faction-homeworld
  18. https://delistedgames.com/section-8/#:~:text=After%20a%20series%20of%20appeals,operations%20in%20July%20of%202013.