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Midway closes San Diego, Aussie studios

  • By Curt Feldman, GameSpot
  • Posted Dec 14, 2005 5:52 pm PT

Grinch arrives with pink slips for more than a hundred staffers as publisher pulls plug in attempt to stop losses.

In a move Scrooge would have approved of, Chicago-based Midway Games has shuttered its San Diego and Adelaide, Australia, studios, according to Adelaide's The Advertiser. The closures will send more than a hundred staffers packing just two weeks before the Christmas holidays.

Midway's top executive in charge of worldwide studios, senior vice president Matthew Booty, traveled to Australia to deliver the news personally, according to the paper.

The Advertiser said the news caught the staff off guard, calling them "stunned" when Booty held an all-hands meeting about the closure Tuesday night.

Midway Games announced the purchase of the studio, formerly known as Ratbag, in August, tendering stock worth more than $7 million.

The closures may have been motivated by a string of losses the company has reported. Last month, the publisher reported a $29.1 million loss on revenues of $29.5 million (for the July-September quarter).

When asked, Midway reps said they were unable to offer any additional comment on the layoffs.

31 Comments

  • Rtisan

    Posted Dec 18, 2005 1:28 am GMT

    I can't say I didn't see this one coming. Baa Humbug! Company politics and shareholder greed are out of control.

  • cold-flame

    Posted Dec 17, 2005 12:01 pm GMT

    I just hope Midway and Activision don't do the big mistakes 3DO and Acclaim did. I LOVE MORTAL KOMBAT!!! DON"T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME!!!!!

  • LordOfMidnight

    Posted Dec 17, 2005 12:04 am GMT

    Gee... and a "Merry Christmas" to all those employees eh? Jerks! The timing really sucks. There's never a great time to be terminated but come on!

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Dec 16, 2005 7:05 am GMT

    that would suck.....especially when you lose a job in the video game business

  • orrad

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 5:12 pm GMT

    FYI: My buddy at Factor 5 said they are hiring like mad, for 2 PS3 projects.

    2D Artist
    3D Artist
    Artist / Graphic Designer
    Character Setup Artist
    Character Technical Director
    Engine Programmer
    Game Designer
    Game Networking Programmer
    Game Programmer
    Junior Tech Programmer
    Lead Level Designer
    Level Designer
    Line Producer
    Maya Tools Programmer
    Senior Designer
    Senior Engine Programmer
    Senior Game Programmer
    Software Engineer
    Special Effects Artist
    Technical Artist
    Tools Programmer

    E-Mail: jobs@factor5.com

  • ff7cloudking

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 3:03 pm GMT

    Arg!!!
    First Activision now Midway!!
    NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • N0tYrBeezin

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 2:49 pm GMT

    Everytime there is news concerning Midway, it is always they close this studio, they close that studio. There is no surprise anymore. They can just reuse their press release from last time. A recyclable press release invented by Midway.

  • daqua_99

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 2:17 pm GMT

    How could they close the Aussie studio when there is a 25 million dollar grant comming their way?

  • MadGamer132

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 1:46 pm GMT

    closing 2 studios isn't that bad.

  • Subway_diet

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 12:13 pm GMT

    Even though Midways impending doom might be looming over, I can't help be be amused by the timing of the closures. Would it not have been kinder to dress Matt up as Santa and have him go around handing out pink slips? "Ho ho ho, do I have a surprise for you... You're fired! Merry Christmas!"

  • Terran499

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 12:01 pm GMT

    First Acklaim, then Working DEsigns, now Midway, whos next.

  • siriarte

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 10:22 am GMT

    This article is not true. There will be a retraction or some response correcting this. I assure you Midway is still secure.

  • skyvader

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 10:16 am GMT

    Situations like this come from only one thing. Investors. those people who don't play games themselves but want the company to just put out what they can. Investors screw over the gamers because of their pushing for titles and not giving the developers time to make the content worth buying. There is so much crap these days and the companies want gamers to pay top $$ for it. Rehashing old school titles is fine but certainly not worth the 30-50 price tag. Considering it doesn't cost that much to develop the damn thing. Developers are having to shelve original ideas in favor of what the investors want. But investors don't get what the gamers want. All in all, aren't we (gamers) investors ourselves? Shouldn't we have more say in what we want to play? Big business sucks. I see another crash in the gaming market happening by 2007.

  • NeoJedi

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 9:19 am GMT

    That is some very bad news for the employees of those 2 studios, especially so close to Christmas. I wish them the best.

  • DrKill09

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 7:18 am GMT

    I just hope Midway make some more quality games (Blitz the League, MK Deception), and less half assed games (Narc remake, Spy Hunter 2, LA Rush, the newest Gauntlet). At least they got out of that slump they were in a few years ago, when they made two of the worst BMX games EVER (Gravity Games, and Toxic Grind).

    I hope another MK comes out in 06. I would also love to see a remake/sequel of Smash TV, that has the classic 2D view, but is in full 3D with all real time lighting effects.

  • SavoyPrime

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 6:54 am GMT

    This isn't really a shocker. Midway hasn't exactly been putting out any blockbuster titles.

  • Sagacious_Tien

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 3:04 am GMT

    Thats real sad - I have followed Ratbag for years - they are an excellent studio.

  • thepyrethatburn

    Posted Dec 15, 2005 12:17 am GMT

    Midway will not shut down as they are still doing better than they have been previously. Ever since MKA, their economic situation has been gradually improving.

    That being said, there were a few missteps which almost seem to have been caused by Midway being able to relax somewhat due to the improved financial situation. Suffering:Ties that bind was one of them. Spy Hunter 2 was another. When they did MKA, it was literally make or break time. If it had failed, Midway would be a memory by now.

    As for Lasafrog's comment, that does seem to be happening to a degree with Mistwalker, a company created by a number of Square expats and Akira Toriyama who still works for the Enix side of Square Enix, being the biggest example. However, I don't think it is happening anymore than at any other time. To a degree, the industry is always in a state of flux. Using Square as an example again, I remember that, after FF7, a number of Square employees broke off and formed Sacnoth which later became Nautilus, developer of Koudelka and the Shadow Hearts series.

  • nemes1s3000

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 11:22 pm GMT

    I really hope they don't shut down, they're truly one of the incredibles.

  • 8081

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 10:49 pm GMT

    They need more noob sibot that will bring them back .

  • Night_Frost

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 10:20 pm GMT

    Man, they were doing so well last year, with The Suffering, MK: Deception, that'll suck if they went backrupt or worse...EA bought them

  • flintgijoe

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 10:06 pm GMT

    WOW. I'm bummed. I went to college in San Diego and was accepted as a game tester for midway San Diego but it didn't fit my schedule so I had to find a different job. I'm bummed that those people lost there jobs.

  • Lasafrog

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 9:16 pm GMT

    The greats are failing, and a time of change is upon us. It won't be long before these giant developers who've been throwing nothing but newly devised crap or re-re-repackaged "classics" at us will fall, and once again, as always seems to happen, those who love this business will break off and form their own companies, and make magic once again. As these big companies have grown, they have changed to focus on investors rather than creativity, and it doesn't take a brainiac to notice this. So it will come back around in a delicate balance to keep our industry strong.

  • BruceLee16

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 9:14 pm GMT

    I would have just left a posted note on everyones desk telling them the news.

  • bap122385

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 9:14 pm GMT

    But the thing that you have to remember is that they have UT2007. Epic is having them publish it instead of atari.
    Darth VIdelous

  • universquall

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 8:13 pm GMT

    That is what I hate about companies buying up others.
    Seeya Ratbag

  • jerico6

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 7:50 pm GMT

    Midway, No. Your making a terrible mistake!!!

  • macmaster1

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 7:22 pm GMT

    LOL, imagine the face of the worker that get the pink slips. We are going to have of bunch of homicidal maniac around the world next week. Christmas time too that sucks.

  • LordAragornXlV

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 6:22 pm GMT

    they ain't going away, just consolidating because of the next-gen systems' development costs. besides that i live in california and i can assured you that the talent pool here for software developers is somewhat lacking.

  • nflsonic

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 6:21 pm GMT

    Meh, it was kind of expected. Although they have been improving their game quality in recent years (Area 51, etc.), they havn't had a blockbuster in those years. I guess it's time for a new Mortal Kombat?!

  • AA7

    Posted Dec 14, 2005 6:13 pm GMT

    I like midway, please dont die!

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