Why Did Midway Go Under?

[fdurso224]

Hi guys,

 

What happen to Midway games that made them go out of business? Were they making mediocre games after awhile?

 

Anthony...

[Algus]

Poor management imo. They actually had a couple great selling games there towards the end. There was some shady stuff going on at the top though.

[Austin]

Well, yeah... That was sort of their strong suit after they exited the amusement business.

 

OK, I will admit though, they did have some solid games (Psy-Ops and The Suffering were well-received back in the PS2 and XBOX days), and their arcade compilations rocked (I really wish they did more of them). They put out plenty of duds though.

 

Were they making mediocre games after awhile?

[mkiker2089]

I was a stock holder. Actually I had about 1 dollars worth but still. The problem was that the management wanted it to fold. It was either restructure and pay off debt or fold and give the management a healthy severence package. Under the state law there was nothing the banckruptcy judge could do. He condemned them in the breifs but was powerless to fine them or change the terms. There was also a large sale of stock just before the final settlement that looked like a tax write off issue but I'm not sure what that was all about.

[VectorGamer]

From Wiki:

Midway Games is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher and developer. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms. Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the Cruis'n series, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam. Midway also acquired the rights to video games that were originally developed by Williams Electronics and Atari Games, such as Defender, Joust, Robotron 2084, Gauntlet and the Rush series.

 

It really is sad to read all the legendary titles to their name and seeing what they have become. Just another extinct, dinosaur arcade company.

Edited August 28, 2013 by rmaerz

[Cobra Commander]

Maybe EA getting an exclusive with the NFL was the final straw. I liked Blitz for its simplicity.