NEWS - Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Midway Will Not Support Xbox 360
Midway to support PS3 at launch, but not Xbox 360 Time and installed base scupper X360 support; Zucker still bullish on full-year targets David Zucker, CEO of resurgent publisher Midway Games, has revealed that the company’s next-gen strategy includes releasing titles to support the launch of PlayStation 3, but not Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Speaking to TheStreet.com, Zucker said that Midway’s intention for the moment is to balance current generation and next generation development - but that while "we’re certainly going to have games for the launch of the PS3, we don’t have any games for the launch of the Xbox 360." Pressed on his reasoning, Zucker explained that it’s a "pretty small install base... To really maximize, to get the performance out of some of the games, it’s going to take some time to do that. And we want to make sure we’re launching high-quality titles." At no point did Zucker rule out providing support for Xbox 360 further down the line - and indeed, Midway has been largely platform-agnostic in the current generation, generally keeping the bulk of its product multi-platform. The firm, which posted its first profitable quarter in four years in Q4 and grew its full year revenue by around 75 per cent, remains bullish on the prospects for its full year performance. Zucker reiterated the firm’s target of $225 million in revenue for the current year, and stated that his aim is to make the company, which was recently bought out by Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone, into a top five ranked publisher. "If you go back and look at Activision and Take-Two," he commented, "their revenue was the same as ours is today, and they both were able to grow their revenue base very rapidly and successfully to critical mass. Why? They were making quality games, and they were making the right games. And that’s our plan."Source: http://www.gameindustry.biz
