We have learned that Defender 2, unofficially scheduled to hit multiple platforms towards the end of this year, has been canned outright by Midway.
This startling news sees Midway again fail to make good use of one its major franchises and follows dismal showings for Spy Hunter, Gauntlet and of course Defender, arguably its most valuable and best-loved game of the eighties.
A Midway insider, speaking under strict anonymity, told us, “It was obvious for all to see that Defender for next-gen machines was a joke. An almost immediate decision to shield it from the press was made, and the marketing spend for the game was increased. Everyone is expecting it to bomb, and that’s why the sequel, which was well underway, has been canned. Defender 2 was going to use the same basic build as the first game, with some extra features and stuff, but that was blatantly never going to work.”
What’s more, the whole Midway development cycle may be close to collapse. “From what I hear, almost all projects have been either canned or put on hold as at present, there just isn’t the money to float the scale of development operation that was in place. This is why the buyout rumours came about. Midway really wants to sell itself. The story that ran which stated Microsoft was looking into buying us was false, and probably came direct from Midway itself. Activision was a serious possibility, but they turned us down. We were just asking for too much money, for too little in return.”
It will be of great interest to see what Midway has to show at this year’s E3 show, due to take place in Los Angeles in May.
This startling news sees Midway again fail to make good use of one its major franchises and follows dismal showings for Spy Hunter, Gauntlet and of course Defender, arguably its most valuable and best-loved game of the eighties.
A Midway insider, speaking under strict anonymity, told us, “It was obvious for all to see that Defender for next-gen machines was a joke. An almost immediate decision to shield it from the press was made, and the marketing spend for the game was increased. Everyone is expecting it to bomb, and that’s why the sequel, which was well underway, has been canned. Defender 2 was going to use the same basic build as the first game, with some extra features and stuff, but that was blatantly never going to work.”
What’s more, the whole Midway development cycle may be close to collapse. “From what I hear, almost all projects have been either canned or put on hold as at present, there just isn’t the money to float the scale of development operation that was in place. This is why the buyout rumours came about. Midway really wants to sell itself. The story that ran which stated Microsoft was looking into buying us was false, and probably came direct from Midway itself. Activision was a serious possibility, but they turned us down. We were just asking for too much money, for too little in return.”
It will be of great interest to see what Midway has to show at this year’s E3 show, due to take place in Los Angeles in May.
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