Midway prepping Unreal comp

Almost two years ago, Midway Games made the surprising announcement that it had signed a deal with Epic Games to publish upcoming installments of the Unreal franchise. The deal was a shocker, as Midway appeared to be diversifying its portfolio to include PC games, as Epic's crème de la crème was the top-selling PC Unreal series.

While that deal was a sign of things to come, today's announcement from "the company that Joust built" deals with things of the past. Midway and Epic have reached an agreement that grants the publisher the retail rights to past Unreal games. The careful wording by Midway indicates "select games" from the Unreal universe will now be boxed with the Midway logo, but at least four have been confirmed to be included in the deal, thanks to a new Unreal compilation that was announced.

Midway will release the Unreal Anthology this fall for the PC, which includes Unreal (with the Return to Na Pali expansion pack), Unreal II: The Awakening, Unreal Tournament (Game of the Year Edition), and Unreal Tournament 2004 (Editors Choice Edition). The pack will sell for $29.95.

Midway's next big Unreal game is the highly anticipated Unreal Tournament 2007, which is expected to be released on the PC and the PlayStation 3.