Midway cuts Chicago staff

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 13th 2008 at 11:00AM }

According to multiple reports, Midway has laid off approximately 20 to 30 people at its Chicago studio following the completion of Blitz: The League II and Mortal Kombat vs. DC. The publisher wouldn't confirm the number of staff laid off, but said it was "below 10%" and that many of the employees were reassigned to other positions in the company.

Given Midway's recent history, it's a little difficult to interpret the news as standard "post-game completion layoffs." Last week, Chairwoman Sheri Redstone announced her resignation from the company, which has been on a quarterly losing streak. It most recently threw $76 million into the void, and was forced to borrow $40 million to manufacture its game discs this holiday.

With almost all its holiday hopes and dreams pinned on the performance of Mortal Kombat vs. DC, the publisher may face even more sad news in the next quarter. Will the industry dish out another fatality?

Source - Rumor: Chicago Midway hit with more layoffs [Kotaku]
Source - Midway confirms further layoffs [Edge]

Tags: layoffs, midway

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

baby sea tuna @ Nov 13th 2008 11:18AM

If I were in charge of Midway at this point, I'd be seriously considering burning it down for the insurance money, so to speak.

LeadBoxx @ Nov 13th 2008 11:22AM

Finish him.........Fatality!

Vader582 @ Nov 13th 2008 11:25AM

Is it just me or does The Joker appear to have flatulation combo/move?

Dirty @ Nov 13th 2008 11:29AM

This game would have been huge.... 5 years ago.

mosdef @ Nov 13th 2008 11:30AM

EA Chicago shut down last year. Now this.

Also, to bad those employees can't go across the street and eat lunch at Hot Dougs any more.

It's the only place to get Foie gras on a hot dog.

FlashbackX01 @ Nov 13th 2008 11:39AM

A teen rated Mortal Kombat was a bad move Midway...Fatality

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 13th 2008 4:22PM

The teen rated version is only in America. If you have a PS3, you can import a "mature" version from Europe.

acefondu @ Nov 13th 2008 11:46AM

Is anyone really expecting the MK game to do well? Midway first screwed up by thinking people would buy into this lame crossover. Second mistake making it Teen. Third mistake was releasing it during a period when video game releases are at their very best. This game is sure to get lost in the mix. Sorry Midway, you guys seriously didn't pass Business 101.

xGeneral DEATHx (Mr ESC Welcome Back Party Ultimate Mega Action Force) @ Nov 13th 2008 11:52AM

Yeah, I'm still in a state of disbelief in thinking that Midway is going to be hinging the success of their company largely on MK vs. DC (which, yes, IS a lame crossover idea). And to agree with Dirty's earlier post, it would've probably been huge more like 10 years ago, or whenever it was that Marvel vs. Capcom first came out.

ComicShaman @ Nov 13th 2008 12:35PM

Agreed. This is a gimmicky title. I would be astonished it it sold well.

I don't think it will even get much boost from the license. If you're in a game store, you see the inevitable confused gift-shopping parent or grandparent wander in and pick up a game with Batman, Bugs Bunny, or what have you on the cover solely because they know the character. "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" is not the sort of title likely to pull the casual license dupe.

trask @ Nov 13th 2008 11:55AM

What's sad is that if this game doesn't do well, they'll see it as people not liking Mortal Kombat. We LOVE MK, just not this sub-par rip off.

Blank-Mage @ Nov 13th 2008 1:12PM

Well, we used to...

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 13th 2008 12:42PM

Mortal Kombat is my favorite fighting series of all time. The first two iterations were by far the golden years. Most of everything after that has just fell short of Parts 1 & 2.

This game had fail written on it from the start as far as I am concerned. This just feels like a huge sell out - nothing new to the MK series. When the series made the jump from realistic 2-D graphics and fighting to cartoony 3-D fighting and graphics it lost me forever. If they want to be successful with this series they need to go back to their roots and make a true 2-D downloadable version on XBLA, WW & PSN. Anything else and I could care less.

It wouldn't matter to me if this game got all 100's (it won't) because it is just garbage as far as I can see. They should have made ti very dark from the start and had nothing but baddies vs villians in the game.

This game was destined for failure the moment it was conceived.

Fighting games in general are a dying breed and especially good ones. Does everyone see what companies have to do now to make these games viable? They have to add in cameos appearances from Star Wars & DC Universe. I'm not hating on Soul Caliber 4 because that was actually a fantastic fighting game.

Blank-Mage @ Nov 13th 2008 1:14PM

Yeah, but the new Final Fantasy (Dissi..d.. Nevermind.) game looks like t3h awesome. We all know Squall's Lionheart limit break could kick Seph's ass. Because that move was gloriously cheap.

Marmot @ Nov 13th 2008 1:00PM

I'm really getting sick of that screenshot

Blank-Mage @ Nov 13th 2008 1:15PM

They are going to be SO surprised when this bombs.

Kanadwen @ Nov 13th 2008 1:22PM

This is sad, watching the credits on Blitz 2, you can see how cool the development team is. Also, I remember watching the development videos on Deadly Alliance, Midway just had a great team. Sad to see them go.

Genius @ Nov 13th 2008 6:00PM

Midway is at 37 cents a share, hurry and buy now! Couldn't even type that with a straight face...

juju187 @ Nov 13th 2008 6:47PM

hope those renting dollar get takin into account...

yyr @ Nov 13th 2008 9:25PM

Does anyone else besides me think that Midway doomed themselves at the very moment they decided to close their arcade division?

This one boneheaded decision had several huge effects:

1) it played a big part in sending the US arcade business into decline. Midway was the single largest US developer and manufacturer of arcade games. No new games? Not as much reason to go to arcades.

2) it cut off a huge source of material for Midway's home division. Midway used to be able to release more console games because they had plenty of arcade ports. And guess what...some of those were really good games!

3) it forced Midway to completely reinvent itself as a developer. They were born in the arcade, and the arcade was their strength and focus for over 20 years. Did they really think they could simply dump their roots and expertise, and maintain their company for more than a few years?

Look through the Midway Arcade Treasures collection...it's sad to see just how many classic games that company delivered in those 20 years, and now they're on the verge of disappearing forever.