Neil Nicastro, chairman of Midway Games, has today announced his intention to resign from the board at the end of next week. He cited personal and professional motivations as an explanation, but maintains that Midway has a bright future. However, this news comes only a couple of weeks after Midway CEO David Zucker had to issue a reassuring press statement to shareholders trying to justify why he had sold off a chunk of Midway stock. He too presented a positive outlook: “I have complete confidence in Midway’s future and I do not intend to sell any Midway stock for the next several years.”
Regardless of the reasoning behind these developments, there will have to be some changes at Midway over the coming year. First and foremost, it will need to appoint a new chairman with sufficient ability to navigate the introduction of the next-generation of consoles whilst still expanding its market share. As far as the gaming community is concerned, this news will have little short term impact, as the release schedule for the next several months is already in place: with titles like Mortal Kombat Deception, NARC, Area 51 and Psi-Ops already limbering up on the horizon.