Topic: Midway Games in Dire Straits

[NWR_Neal]

The Chicago-based game company lost over 70 million dollars last quarter and now faces the risk of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=17254

 Long time video game publisher Midway Games is currently in a terrible financial situation. Since being bought out CBS and Viacom chairman, Summer Redstone, four years ago, Midway has fallen deeper and deeper into debt. With big releases being delayed, like 2007's Stranglehold (developed with John Woo), and others either rushed out the door (Blacksite: Area 51) or cancelled (Career Criminal), Midway's games have begun to cost more and more money. All of this has been accentuated by the fact that Midway has not been able to keep their stock above the New York Stock Exchange's minimum average closing price of $1 per share for over 30 straight trading days.    

When Variety's The Cut Scene blog tackled the subject, they found out that, according to ex-employees, Midway's decision to license Epic's Unreal Engine was a huge part of delays and declining game quality. One ex-employee even said that "instead of just taking the base Unreal 3 engine that Gears of War was made on and building games off of that, we let our tech and product development guys try to really modify the engine to add all these [different] things.…It put all the games way behind schedule."    

Most likely due to their focus on the Unreal Engine, Midway has barely been able to capitalize on the success of the Wii. Their only Wii-exclusive titles have been the moderately successful Game Party franchise. On the DS, their only releases this year have been Mechanic Master and TouchMaster 2. Currently, they have no future games planned for any Nintendo system.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Midway's decision to license Epic's Unreal Engine was a huge part of delays and declining game quality.

I could have swore that was occuring before then!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

TSK, SUB-ZERO, TSK

[DAaaMan64]

Dire Straits is an excellent band

[ThePerm]

what instrument does midway play in the band?


but seriously, i'valways had a thing for Midway, they don't always get my cash, but i always like mortal kombat. Its just they've milked the franchise without making any new substantial franchises. I'd hate to see them go the way of acclaim, which is ironic, last economic cycle it was midway doing well in sales and acclaim tanking. I had suggested that they should buy acclaim just for the franchise rights.

another thing they don't understand is franchise integrity, changing the costume of scorpion every iteration is BAD. Keep some things Cannon.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Really though what has Midway done that has stood out since the SNES days? Sure they've created some fun games like the Blitz series but beyond that most of their atempts were either bad, average or slightly above average.

[NWR_Lindy]

Unreal Tournament III was pretty good as far as first-person shooters go.  It's in the upper tier of this console generation.

However, Midway's problem simply comes down to bad management.  OK, so you're bleeding cash...why would you license the Unreal Engine, which basically forces you to make an expensive, high-risk/high-reward game?  Do what Majesco did and start making stuff like Cooking Mama.  Scale back and concentrate on making money and getting financially solid again, instead of gambling everything on a small number of costly titles.  Leave that to the big boys that can absorb the losses.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Unreal Tournament III was pretty good as far as first-person shooters go.  It's in the upper tier of this console generation.

However, Midway's problem simply comes down to bad management.  OK, so you're bleeding cash...why would you license the Unreal Engine, which basically forces you to make an expensive, high-risk/high-reward game?  Do what Majesco did and start making stuff like Cooking Mama.  Scale back and concentrate on making money and getting financially solid again, instead of gambling everything on a small number of costly titles.  Leave that to the big boys that can absorb the losses.

Didn't realize they developed UTIII. If so then I will correct myself, all but ONE game has been top tier since the SNES days!

[D_Average]

Mk vs DC sales will make this whole thing go away.

[Toruresu]

Unless it tanks, and I think it will :/

I hate it when game companies just die, it's bad for all of us.

[Enner]

Midway has a publishing deal with Epic for Unreal Tournament III. I think they hinted or announced and expansion for that.

It's sad to see Midway in such bad shape, but it doesn't come as much as a surprise given how their games have been doing. Hopefully, MK vs. DC will help them through enough to bounce back.

[TofuFury]

They should put out a sequel to Hydro Thunder on the wii. I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

[KDR_11k]

The core market continues to implode from rising dev costs...

[Ian Sane]

Midway's legacy as a developer is based on their quality arcade games.  Think of a classic Midway game and it's an arcade game.  Period.  They've been largely irrelevent since they stopped making arcade games.

So what they need to do is "trick" themselves into making arcade games.  Design games as if they are made for the arcade but then effectively "port" them to the consoles.  You design the quarter munching arcade gameplay first and then add the standard console stuff like vs. modes (depending on the genre) and limited lives and difficulty levels and stuff like that.  Midway shouldn't make big epic console games because they suck at them.  They have to make pick-up-n-play got-you-by-the-balls action games because THAT is what they are good at and that is what their legacy is.

And if they ever made a Mortal Kombat with digitalized sprites again I'll bet the novelty factor alone would get people interested.  Pull a Mega Man 9.  MK has never been the same since they went with polygons.  MK is supposed to be silly exploitation, not a sub-par American Tekken knock-off.

[Bill Aurion]

So what they need to do is "trick" themselves into making arcade games.  Design games as if they are made for the arcade but then effectively "port" them to the consoles.

That's what they USED to do...San Francisco Rush was one of those series that was bloody excellent in both the arcades and on the console...The problem is, after LA Rush, I just don't think Midway has the talent to do it anymore...

[KDR_11k]

IOW, Midway should get the hell out of the hardcore market

[ThePerm]

Mk vs DC sales will make this whole thing go away.

every reviewer says rental

[NWR_Neal]

Mk vs DC sales will make this whole thing go away.

every reviewer says rental

I still bought it and I don't regret it.

[D_Average]

I still can't fathom how they were the kings of Pinball, then the kings of Fighters and they somehow managed to piss it all away.  They will no doubt be discussed in business schools some day on what NOT to do.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I miss the Pinball industry.

[LuigiHann]

And if they ever made a Mortal Kombat with digitalized sprites again I'll bet the novelty factor alone would get people interested.

I'd play it. Double the resolution of the sprites (without making them HD or anything) and maybe get some recognizable B-list actors involved, and you could have a really entertaining presentation.

[Chozo Ghost]

Midway's games have begun to cost more and more money.

Gee, if only there were a system out there which was extremely easy and cheap to develop for and was insanely popular, with a user install base of over 30 million. Then Midway could start releasing games for that system and make tons of money. But sadly, no such console seems to exist, so it looks like Midway is doomed to plod on with expensive HD-games on systems that aren't that popular.

/sarcasm

[Chozo Ghost]

I still can't fathom how they were the kings of Pinball, then the kings of Fighters and they somehow managed to piss it all away.  They will no doubt be discussed in business schools some day on what NOT to do.

The problem is they bet on the wrong horse. A lot of 3rd parties seemed to think graphics and HD was the way to go, so they all invested in costly 360 and PS3 development whilst giving Nintendo the shaft. Now they are paying the price for their backstabbing, and it is a payback I think they richly deserve.

The OP said the few minor softcore offerings they released for the Wii were "moderate successes". Now, moderate success on cheap grandma party games that cost a tiny amount to develop is a lot better than wasting massive amounts of money of hardcore PS3 or 360 games that don't turn a profit, or maybe never even see the light of day at all. But better yet, why don't they try actually bringing some hardcore games to the Wii? You'd think if cheap mario party clones could be profitable on the Wii, then a bigger investment into hardcore games might actually end up majorly profitable, and turn their fortunes around 360 degrees...

But are they smart enough to see that success lies with Nintendo? If they're not, and if they stupidly continue to ignore the market leader, then they completely 100% deserve the bankruptcy that they will get as a result.

[Ian Sane]

Those of you pushing the "developing hardcore games is folly" idealogy do realize the Midway SUCKS as a game developer, right?  It doesn't matter what console you support, if your games suck and you're in financial trouble that means everything is right with the world.  Now if Midway was releasing GOTY candidates every few months and still was losing money on the PS3/X360 then you've got something.

[NWR_Lindy]

Developing for 360/PS3 isn't bad business, it's just riskier business.  You really have to know what you're doing and be confident that you're going to turn out a product that can stand alongside the big boys, and market it well to boot.  There's less room for error, that's all.

The "folly" is that Midway sank tons of money into mediocre projects on high-investment platforms.  That's simply bad management because they put all their eggs into one basket and didn't manage risk effectively.  They'd didn't cover their asses with Cooking Mama: Mortal Kombat Edition for Wii, or Princess: My Life as a Queen for DS.  Seriously, Blitz II, Wheelman, This Is Vegas?  Who's going to buy those games?