The story
CWS Entertainment Ltd./Paradox Development era
Paradox Development was founded in 1994 by Christine Hsu, the former CEO/CFO of Malibu Comics Entertainment, whose company owned the shrinking video game developer Malibu Interactive, Hsu was part of a series of layoffs at the company, and went on to produce titles for top video game publishers including Activision, Electronic Arts, Virgin Interactive (later acquired by Electronic Arts), Interplay, and Namco.
In 1999, the company made a deal with THQ to develop a fishing game for PlayStation, but it was never materialized.
The company developed its distinctive fighting game engine, first used on the unreleased game Thrill Kill, and later reused on released fighting games, such as Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style for Activision, X-Men: Mutant Academy and X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 for Activision, and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots Arena for Mattel Interactive.
In November 23, 2004, Midway Games Inc. acquired CWS Entertainment Ltd., which was doing business as Paradox Development. Midway announced the acquisition 7 days later; by then Paradox Development was developing Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.
Midway Studios – Los Angeles Inc. era
Following the acquisition by Midway, Paradox Development was renamed to Midway Studios – Los Angeles Inc., sometimes called "Midway Los Angeles" or "Midway L.A."
In 2008, Midway Los Angeles was relocated and merged with Midway's San Diego office. The following year, publisher Midway Games filed for bankruptcy, and in August 2009 the Midway San Diego studio was closed and most of its assets were purchased by publisher THQ, who only offered about 40% of the studio's personnel new positions within the company. Many of the laid-off developers were hired by High Moon Studios.
From Wikipedia’s article on Midway Studios Los Angeles, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3