Midway Newcastle has officially closed, leaving around 80 staff members unemployed, the publisher has confirmed.

"We can confirm we closed the Newcastle studio this morning," Midway spokesperson Geoffrey Mogilner told Kotaku. "During the notification period we were actively searching for bidders, and since we didn't find any unfortunately it was necessary to close it down.”

Midway Newcastle was behind Vin Diesel vehicle The Wheelman, and was working on Necessary Force at the time of its closure.

The Wheelman IP is now owned by Warner Bros., which acquired a number of the publisher's assets in a $33 million deal, but Necessary Force hasn’t been picked up.

Also not included in Warner’s acquisition was Midway's San Diego studio, which has until September to find a buyer under California law.