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Midway Austin hit by layoffs, game cancellation

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Aug 11, 2008 2:34 pm PT

Citing need to "optimize product development resources," cash-strapped publisher shuts down mystery project, pink-slips 90-130 staffers; two new IPs still in the works.

Last week, several high-profile members of Midway Games' management staff departed, including Chicago studio chief Mike Bilder and media relations director Reilly Brennan. Today, the publisher announced further staff reductions at its Austin studio, which developed Area 51 (2005) and BlackSite: Area 51. Prior to its 2004 purchase by Midway, the shop developed 2002's Tribes Aerial Assault for Sierra Entertainment.

In a statement, Midway announced that "it has canceled an as-yet-unannounced project in production in its Austin, Texas, facility, and as a result Midway will have a reduction in force of a portion of the affected development team." According to the company, some 90 to 130 positions will be eliminated, although two teams will continue work on "unnamed prototype projects intended to expand Midway's portfolio of new intellectual property."

"While this was a very difficult decision, we feel it was the right thing to do for the future of Midway," said Matt Booty, Midway's interim CEO and president. "We view every game as an investment that must meet certain standards for quality, scheduling, and profitability."

The Midway Austin closures come one week after it reported disheartening results for its second fiscal quarter, which ended on June 30. The three-month period saw its losses more than double to $34.8 million, thanks to a release schedule with just one game, NBA Ballers: Chosen One (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360). During the current quarter, the company released the 360 edition of Unreal Tournament III in July, and will ship TNA Impact! next month. Its holiday lineup includes no-holds-barred football sim Blitz: The League II and the comic book/fighting game crossover Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

105 Comments

  • Baldur3272

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 12:41 pm PT

    i mean blacksite 51 wasent the best shooter, but it had its moments.

    1. the squad momentuem was a neat feature. i am not aware of many other games that have that feature, if any.

    2. when you aim your weapon the gun takes a little time to reach where you ar aiming at. very realistick.

    3. the grafics are about a 7.8 out of 10. although i thought the gun grafics where amazing.

    4. the little street blocks and others items of the inviorements are destructible. that is always a feature that gamers would love to have in any 1st person shooter.

    5. the voice acting was about a 8.7 out of 10. like in the beggining you were ambushed and when you got to the bridge one of your squad mates stated that we were having some 'technical difficulties' after you were ambushed. that made no sence.

    6. the aliens were pretty fierce looking as well. they were big, strong, smart, powerful. something from your average game. but just a little more.

    7. the thing it lacked though was interactivity. 5/10 on that.

    8. there were collectables in the level. these would make you to want to explore. these were fantastic.

    9. storyline was pretty basic but plenty of suprises. 7.9 out of 10 on the story.

    the fact that it kept me awake made it a good game my rating-7.8

  • WitWolfy

    Posted Aug 13, 2008 1:13 am PT

    blacksite's fall was the bad voice acting and typical story line not to mention it being like shorter than a tantrum thrown by n spoiled child

  • xlizard-beta

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 3:32 pm PT

    midawy has had its times but its game lately have been bad (hour of victory) area 51 black site was kinda bad no wonder y its not doing good.

  • luke2721

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 2:32 pm PT

    i swear to god if midway doesn't release any more MK games or cancels this one i'm going to be pissed

  • Vod_Crack

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 12:49 pm PT

    Remakes of their older games sounds like a bad idea but I would welcome it so they realise what a fun game is again.

  • Sacred-Snow

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 12:11 pm PT

    Bleh, I like Midway, but nothing good finacially is on its way...

  • clayron

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 11:45 am PT

    I honestly do not think any of their current exected gaming line-up is going to be profitable enough to get them out of the red.

  • LordReithgar

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 11:33 am PT

    hopefully they release Blitz before they go bankcrupt

  • rain_armageddon

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 11:24 am PT

    MK VS. DCU better still b coming out. Other than that, I also hope they are working on the next MK game, I want to see what happens after Armageddon even though it sucked.

  • markharris31

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 11:17 am PT

    UT3 was solid, but the rest of their lineup is woefully unappealing. I'm hoping some of these "unnamed projects" can turn things around.

    EDIT: Lol, I wish I hadn't read farther down to see all the ignorant posters blaming the president. Midway's game lineup is horrendous and you want to blame a president who has damn near nothing to do with the state of the economy? I hope you people don't vote. As an aside, if you can blame the economy on Bush, then you have to give him credit for the 30%+ year over year growth of the video game industry, now doncha? Ignorance FTW!

  • omnislash_13

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 10:39 am PT

    Not really surprised, I've been playing Mortal Kombat from the first installation right through to this one and i love the games to death because i'm a loyal fan, but outside of MK Midway make some very bad games, there's one or two good ones, but they simply aren't that good across the board and can't survive, all they can hope is that a bigger company takes them on or they're going to be clinging to MK with all they have left and i fear the franchise may die

  • grigjd3

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 10:34 am PT

    Blacksite: Area 51 might have done some good business several years before but the level we've come to expect is higher. This seems like the overall trend with Midway. Games that just aren't quite at the modern level or games where it's hard to get real business. NBA Ballers is really just another basketball game. If I were working for them, I'd be looking for a job elsewhere and fast.

  • firehawk998

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 10:28 am PT

    If this company goes bust. Please dont kill the mortal kombat franchise sell it to other publishers.

  • jeremiah06

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 10:15 am PT

    That might not be a bad Idea I cant think of any Football movies that did do got a the box office.

  • necronaux

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 10:09 am PT

    "...must meet certain standards for quality, scheduling, and profitability." What's next? A Blitz the League movie?

  • jeremiah06

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 10:09 am PT

    Wow it seems like their is less and less job security. I believe instead of getting rid of the Texas facility workers then should have just made a simple cheap wii games to boost profit especially with the shortage of games coming to the wii that would at leas help fund the project they were working on without having to let go o many workers.

  • msdd9

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 10:07 am PT

    Oh man, I love Midway if they go down I'll never get Psi Ops 2.

  • exportforce

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 9:54 am PT

    Holy sh*t oO
    First my beloved Flagship, now Midway.... wtf is happening...

  • V-r0cK

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 9:49 am PT

    Before Midway goes down please make another NHL HITZ...best hockey game everrrrrrr

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