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Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing
Update: Layoffs Continue to Beleaguer Remaining Midway Staff
Midway Axes 80 to 90 in Austin?

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LucasReis
12/16/08

In reply to Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing
I feel sorry for the people and sad because Midway is the shit! I really like a lot of their games and I like MK just as much as I like Street Fighter. I hope someone buys them or their IP´s. It can´t just die like this. Anyway, I hope these guys find new jobs soon, this crisis sucks big time.
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c0mbobreaker
12/16/08

In reply to Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing
Atari/infogrames was in this same position not too long ago and look where they are now.

Midway can come back if they make some smart decisions like Atari did.
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Kobun
12/16/08

@c0mbobreaker: Yep, and I see this as a good thing for the company, all of the laid off grief notwithstanding. The harsh economic times understandably make a routine company shake up and restructuring process worse for those directly impacted by the decision to cut jobs, but if the company can be rebuilt into a more stable, profitable software developer, it'll be worth it in the long run.
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Komrade Kayce
12/16/08

In reply to Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing
Life is fucked when all you want for Christmas in your family is a job to feed them with.
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The Cap'n
12/16/08

@Komrade_Kayce: So true. Man, you hit it on the head there, thank you. I bitch about my life, but when you hear something like this, it just chills you. Especially when you consider that there's probably not a lot of hiring positions in vg programming right now, sadly.

Dark days.
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shaunmcilroy
12/16/08

In reply to Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing
Thanks for the games you guys made before.

Hope you all get sorted with jobs again soon!
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(Human) Gyaruson
12/16/08

In reply to Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing
What else can be said that already hasn't been said? This is a sad day in the games industry.
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KaneRobot
12/16/08

In reply to Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing
Next person to say "shouldn't have made MK vs. DC a T-rated game" deserves a banning for being ignorant.

This sucks.
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Sachin Agarwal
12/16/08

@KaneRobot: They can still do M rated DLC, and I hope that they do.
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Taggart6: I don't always drink beer, but when I do...
12/16/08

In reply to Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing
Sorry for all the Austin folk.

Looks like no MK VS DC 2
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rabbibert
12/16/08

@TaggarT6: mk is developed in chicago not austin, plus mk is midways most profitable ip. chances are there wasn't going to be another mk vs dc but if midway survives for a few more years there's probably going to be another mk.
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SansSanity
12/16/08

In reply to Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing
I feel sorry for the people who lost their jobs so close to Christmas... really sad

Hope you guys find jobs quickly...
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d_r_e
12/16/08

@SansSanity:

Yeah, that really sucks to lose your job around this time of the year.
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(Human) Gyaruson
12/16/08

In reply to Update: Layoffs Continue to Beleaguer Remaining Midway Staff
"We are told that people who were laid off were called last night and told not to come in."

Well ain't that a kick in the crotch. No warnings, no nothing.

Midway Employee: "My wife's worried about my job security, she's really nervous."

Midway: "Well you should go home and comfort her. Let me just write this sympathy note on the pink piece of paper here and off you go. Oh, and you should probably take tomorrow off - to be with her of course. Hell, why not take the rest of your career off."

Employee: ....

Midway: "You've got five seconds to get off the property."
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Archaotic
12/16/08

@Gyaruson:

A+ comment right here. Thumbs up.
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Kobun
12/16/08

@Gyaruson: If the stock tanking, its chief investor bailing out, and the constant rumors of bankruptcy weren't enough of a warning, I don't know what to tell you. :P :(
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(Human) Gyaruson
12/16/08

@Kobun:

Still, at least have the stones to let your staff go to their face, so at least you seem like you have a heart. Doing it over the phone only screams, "Glad that's over with. It could've been awkward..."
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Bones_Jackson
12/16/08

@Gyaruson:

It looks like you've never had a job in corporate America...

A phone call the night before and being told not to come ISN't that bad. At my company we had about 30 people layed off on a single day. They were told by a person with a clipboard full of names to get their keys, get out and come back for their stuff after the work day was over!
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(Human) Gyaruson
12/16/08

@Bones_Jackson:

Does that make it any less heartless because it happens at more places than just Midway Chicago/Austin? No. It's still a shitty-ass way to operate, right before Christmas. I know Christmas spirit has no place in the workplace, but does it get any more literary than that?
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Bones_Jackson
12/16/08

@Gyaruson:

Yea its a shitty way to operate...but hurting people's feelings sadly doesn't enter the equation when running a business. Another thing that sucks is that fiscal years sometimes end in Decemeber...which leads to cuts during Holidays.

It's never good when you have to go home to the family and say that you're jobless...hopefully things work out those that did lost jobs. Maybe the Christmas spirit will lift them up and keep them positive when they need it most...
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(Human) Gyaruson
12/16/08

@Bones_Jackson:

Here here.
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Andrzej Matuch
12/16/08

In reply to Update: Layoffs Continue to Beleaguer Remaining Midway Staff
I'm very surprised that Microsoft hasn't made a bid for the company yet. Honestly, it would be in their interest to control a historic gaming company like Midway and its intellectual properties. Sure, those properties have taken a beating in recent years but they can be revived as long as Microsoft implements some sort of quality control. I, as a 360 owner, would not mind having exclusivity on future Mortal Kombat, Spy Hunter or Blitz games. As well, I would love for there to be a revival of NBA Jam. Hell, why not make some sort of Gauntlet RPG?

Anyways, I'm sure that MSFT can get the company for next to nothing so it would be a good investment for the IPs alone.
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Archaotic
12/16/08

@Andrzej Matuch:

Considering the lackluster sales of all of Midway's recent games, MS is most definitely not the company that's gonna be willing to take that risk.
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Sachin Agarwal
12/16/08

@Andrzej Matuch: The issue is that it's not just the amount you pay for the stock - it's what it would cost to assume all of Midway's debt. Midway has enough debt that it wouldn't be cheap.

That said, we love Midway (we're both here in Chicago and they co-sponsored Chicago for Child's Play with us at Dawdle.com) and we hate to see this happen. I hope none of the people I've worked with there got the bad news (actually, I really hope that this rumor is totally off-base and that everyone left is safe).
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geekgrrl
12/16/08

@Sachin Agarwal: now that i think about it...did anyone from Midway show up? all i remember are you Dawdle.com peeps. (i was the obnoxious chick in the striped sweater (at least i think that's what i wore), glued to the MK vs. DC tourney.)
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enewtabie
12/16/08

@Sachin Agarwal:
Correct.Their debt is around 150 million if I remember correctly.I think it's mostly to that arcade company. I'm surprised the guy who bought the shares for $100k hasn't started selling off the ips to recover some money. Midway still owns a lot of older ips so they could go the download route sometime in the future.
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Sachin Agarwal
12/16/08

@geekgrrl: Nope, they sent word that they were caught up with work. Pek was the closest we had to Midway staff. But hey, we raised a cool $1,000 - [blog.dawdle.com]
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Spoony Bard
12/16/08

In reply to Update: Layoffs Continue to Beleaguer Remaining Midway Staff
That's terrible news for Midway and fans of Mortal Kombat. :(
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oxweeblexo
12/16/08

@Spoony Bard: No it was a terrible news for MK fans when they went to a teen rating.. then they said they will have a game thats gonna be better than Gears of War. so many disappointments
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Komrade Kayce
12/16/08

@Spoony Bard:

I think Mortal Kombat died a long time before Midway did, dude.

Same with Guantlet. :(
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sadisticfreak432
12/16/08

@Komrade_Kayce: Whats Guantlet? Is that anything like Gauntlet?
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Touy
12/16/08

@oxweeblexo: @Komrade_Kayce: Actually MK vs. DCU, while not as good as Gears, is in fact really, really good. The fighting feels like mortal kombat.
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Komrade Kayce
12/16/08

@sadisticfreak432:

Guantlet is a typo from trying to type Gauntlet.

Thanks for contributing.
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d_r_e
12/16/08

@sadisticfreak432:

Why ask when you knew damn well it was Gauntlet that he was trying to type out?

*sigh*

@Komrade_Kayce:

Yeah, Mortal Kombat died a long time ago for me. I quit playing after the 3rd installment.
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jayntampa
12/16/08

@Touy: I agree -- MK vs. DCU is a very good game. It's just fun to play -- and, it's a fighting game with an involved story mode. Hopefully, Midway will be able to reorganize and come back stronger.
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Midway To Lay Off 25% Of Staff, Austin Studio Closing

Update: Layoffs Continue to Beleaguer Remaining Midway Staff

Midway Axes 80 to 90 in Austin?

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