1976
Bally forms a new division called Midway to deal purely with the emerging videogames market, releasing the very first microprocessor game "Gun Fight". This was a remade version of the Taito game of the same name but using a 8080 CPU to allow for more varied gameplay.
1978
Taito release Space Invaders in Japan, and Midway gain the license for distribution in America, where it becomes a phenomenon.
1980
From out of no-where, Pinball maker Williams releases Defender, single handedly gaining massive praise and firmly establishing them as a major force in the industry.
Namco release Pac-Man in Japan, once again Midway get the rights to distribute a game in America and sell over 100,000 units in the USA alone.
1982
Midway release Ms Pac Man, selling 115,000 units and becoming the highest selling American arcade game in history.
Bally Midway release Tron at the same time as the movie is released, the profit from the game actually out-grosses the film.
1988
Williams purchase the Bally/Midway game division as Bally was abandoning the arcade side of the business (not the slots and casinos). In essence, Williams now had the right to build arcade games using the Bally/Midway brand name which at the time still had enormous coin-op market respect.
1996
Williams/Midway purchase Atari Corp.
1999
The "Atari Games" division at Midway is renamed "Midway West", Williams & Bally Midway pinball divisions closed down.
2001
Midway shuts down all arcade operations.
