Midway Consolidates California Operations, Lays Off 74

Of the 116 employees affected by the move, 103 of them were directly associated with product development. All together, 74 employees were laid off, effective last Friday, February 7. The Milpitas studio had been developing two titles scheduled for release in 2004. These two titles, which were not named by the company, were cancelled. The company's selling and marketing functions located at the Milpitas office will continue operating from that location. Prior to the layoffs, Midway employed approximately 675 employees throughout the world, approximately 470 of whom were directly associated with product development. The company will take a restructuring charge of about $14 million for the move, to cover accruals to record employee severance, facilities expenses and to eliminate capitalized product development assets related to the two titles no longer in production.