Matt Booty, CEO of Midway, had the unenviable duty of informing the still employed Midway rank and file about company-wide lay-offs that resulted in 25% of staff being let go today.
He explained in an internal communication that Midway is "a larger organization than can be sustained by the amount of revenue we bring in at this time" and that the new round of "reductions" was "necessary for us to do this as quickly as possible given the challenges we're facing."
"The actions we took today are intended to preserve the foundation of this company - our core franchises, fun arcade-style casual games, and world-class technology - in the hope that we can rebuild on that foundation in the future," Booty explained.
Booty told Midway staffers that the elimination of a quarter of the company's employees affected product development, marketing, public relations, sales, accounting, submissions, QA, human resources and IT in Chicago, with folks on the marketing and PR side let go in San Diego.
He also reiterated to employees what was said in a statement earlier today that "we need to allocate our resources to projects that have either proven track records or significant future potential," adding that launching new IP is "very difficult."
"I am here for the long run," he reassured staff. "And speaking for the entire executive management team, we intend to see this through and come out a stronger, more valuable company on the other side."