The demolition of Midway continues as all 60 employees at the company’s corporate headquarters in Chicago have been given layoff notices, including CEO Matt Booty.
Midway has given a 60-day layoff notice to employees at its corporate office, which is being shut down in the wake of the company’s acquisition by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. All of Midway’s corporate employees are being cut, including CEO Matt Booty, who just a few days ago went to the U.K. to pull the plug on Midway’s Newcastle studio, which also fell victim to the Warner takeover.
Midway is continuing the seek a buyer for its San Diego studio, developer of the TNA Wrestling videogames, which, like Midway Newcastle, wasn’t part of the takeover deal. It appears that the only facility that will emerge intact from the acquisition is Midway’s Chicago development studio, which responsible for the Mortal Kombat franchise; all 100 employees at the studio have been offered jobs with WBIE.
With that, the dismantling of the once-proud Midway is almost complete. News surfaced earlier in the week that the Midway brand itself would be dropped in favor of something tied to the Warner Bros. name and while company rep Geoff Mogilner later said those reports were “premature,” it seems irrelevant at this point: Midway, for all intents and purposes, no longer exists.
Source: Chicago Tribune
Published: Jul 17, 2009 02:58 pm