Midway Games Inc. announced today the development of Blitz:Playmakers, a new, unlicensed videogame exposing the harsh realism and troubling, behind-the-scenes stories of a fictional professional football league. In development at Midway’s Chicago studio for the past year in collaboration with a writer from ESPN’s controversial “Playmakers” TV series, Blitz: Playmakers will feature a powerful story mode that, for the first time ever in a football videogame, explores the realism, lifestyle and drama found in professional football. Players will take the helm of a downtrodden football franchise and retool the players and coaching staff in a quest to guide them to the league championship. Additional features include intense multiplayer action with head-to head online play and complete customization of players, teams, stadiums and more. Blitz: Playmakers is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 2005 on multiple videogame console platforms.