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NBA Ballers Lead Designer Leaves Midway
Posted by Brian Crecente at 12:00 AM on August 13, 2008
NBA Ballers: Chosen One lead designer John Vignocchi recently gave his two weeks notice at Midway Chicago to help start a new venture capital backed studio in the city.
The new studio, located on the north side of Chicago, will concentrate on creating games for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Vignocchi leaves Midway after working on five games with the company over the past 8 and a half years. His departure is just the latest in a stream of lay-offs and departures in the financial strapped company.
In an email obtained by Kotaku last night, Matt Booty, interim CEO and president of Midway, told employees that the company laid off 90 Austin workers because the company felt that their open world game Career Criminal was likely not going to be successful, so they killed the project.
The layoffs hit less than a week after Midway confirmed to Kotaku that a trio of high-level folks had left Midway's Chicago studio. Among those to leave were Mike Bilder, head of the studio, the internal developer responsible for Stranglehold, Mortal Kombat and Blitz: The League. Other confirmed departures include Mona Hamilton, vice president of marketing, and Reilly Brennan, director of media relations. Two other high level staffers were rumoured to have quit, including Vignocchi.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
animexplorer
Posted 12:20 AM 13/8/08
when was the last time Midway released an AAA title?
animexplorer
CoverD
Posted 12:20 AM 13/8/08
This leads to the question...does anyone even care?
I mean WHO played that game?
CoverD
Jonbo298
Posted 12:15 AM 13/8/08
I guess he wasn't Ballin' enough
lulz
Jonbo298
ac2334
Posted 12:15 AM 13/8/08
foist
good
ac2334
ChiChi_BBQ
Posted 12:59 AM 13/8/08
I share their assumption regarding Career Criminal not doing well, but I wish those workers the best of luck in getting back in business.
ChiChi_BBQ
TrjnRabbit
Posted 12:58 AM 13/8/08
Rat flees sinking ship.
More at eleven.
TrjnRabbit
LanciePants
Posted 12:51 AM 13/8/08
The angry, spiteful gamer in me wants to point my finger and laugh at Midway's troubles but I just can't. They're obviously in a bind if they're laying off employees. And the additional squeeze of top talent leaving is going to push Midway into an even more precarious position then ever.
Best of luck Midway, I hope you guys pull through.
LanciePants
MisterMcThursday
Posted 12:50 AM 13/8/08
Wasn't this game fairly popular?
MisterMcThursday
The Rage
Posted 12:39 AM 13/8/08
@Jonbo298: I dont know why. But I lol'd quietly to myself on this one.
The Rage
cdammers
Posted 1:10 AM 13/8/08
I feel sorry for their employees, but from a purely gaming standpoint, would anyone care if Midway shut down?
cdammers
JustJake
Posted 1:05 AM 13/8/08
@CoverD: I did. Only because Gamefly is stupid and sent the last two games on my list first. That game was terrible in just about every way. I hated the damn FFA style events where there is no taking the ball back when some one scores. So the big guys just sit at the basket and dunk over you.
I sent that game back the next day.
JustJake
InsipidWays
Posted 1:05 AM 13/8/08
@CoverD: Dwight Howard might have once or twice.
InsipidWays
jackassjackson
Posted 1:28 AM 13/8/08
I agree with the majority here, first off, Ballers is completely terrible. Who cares about this dude, he's an idiot anyways, just dig up any videos of him from IGN. And starting a new company is great, if you have people that can run it properly and be forward thinking, which this guy, and the majority of midway are not. When they put out ballers 2, that guy was saying how sandbox play is "the future" of gaming...like hey, have you been sleeping for the last 5 years or what. Midway is dead, now they just need to go bury themselves.
jackassjackson
Flynn
Posted 3:02 AM 13/8/08
@LanciePants: If Vignocchi is "top talent," then that speaks volumes to Midway's current woes. He was an unpaid intern 7 years ago who came in as a Mark Turmell fanboy with narry a whit of experience or education. Now he's a "lead designer?"
"Dude, my dad owns a Construction Company."
BTW, when did Kotaku take over as Fatbabies?
Flynn
shufflemoomin
Posted 3:11 AM 13/8/08
It's not fair to say this is the latest in a string of lay-off's. The story says he gave his notice. i.e he quit. Saying it's the latest layoff implies he was fired. Which one is it? Quit or fired?
shufflemoomin
chimmychanga
Posted 2:24 AM 13/8/08
Its too bad about Midway, they do have a lot of talent- they are just misled by bloated, dinosaurs of the industry. All these guys leaving is probably the best thing to happen to Midway, but the timing isnt good. They really need to gut the management.
chimmychanga
LanciePants
Posted 5:07 AM 13/8/08
@Flynn:
Vignocchi is not the only one leaving. I've been in situations like this, where there's a crisis of confidence within the company. People start bailing like rats fleeing a sinking ship, which only compounds the problems the orgnization is already facing. Artist, developers, animators all these guys will be taking cues from their bailing managers and producers.
...speaking as a former rat, who sunk said sinking ship.
LanciePants
skrame ☆
Posted 4:54 AM 13/8/08
@Kotaku: Shouldn't this read
fst gd
?
skrame ☆
skrame ☆
Posted 4:52 AM 13/8/08
@shufflemoomin: Read the article again.
From above: His departure is just the latest in a stream of lay-offs and departures in the financial strapped company.
He did depart.
skrame ☆
shufflemoomin
Posted 9:49 AM 13/8/08
@skrame ☆: Thank you for pointing that out. I don't think that was there earlier, it must have been edited. Either way, good to know.
shufflemoomin
grahamwest
Posted 10:16 AM 13/8/08
Hey Flynn, long time no see!
I'll vouch for Johnny V. Chosen one's debacle was not his fault (I bailed early in its development but I heard the story). I worked with him on a bunch of games and he blossomed into a pretty talented designer. By the way, I know where Bilder went...
What've you been up to lately? I escaped to California and am loving it out here.
grahamwest
Tietsu
Posted 7:01 PM 14/8/08
@Flynn:
Win!
Tietsu