UPDATE 1-Midway Games to cut 25 pct jobs, take charge

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Midway Games Inc MWY.N, a video game maker, said it would cut its global workforce by 25 percent, close a studio in Austin, Texas and suspend development on many non-core games to reduce its cost structure.

Separately, the maker of the popular "Mortal Kombat" video game series said in a filing with U.S. regulators that it expects to incur a total charge of about $21.7 million in the fourth quarter, including a severance-related cash charge of about $1.6 million.

The company, whose shares fell as much as 10 percent, said the headcount reduction, of about 180 full-time employees, would take place across multiple disciplines within its Austin, Chicago and San Diego locations.

Earlier this month, media mogul Sumner Redstone and his holding companies sold 80.3 million shares of Midway for 0.12 cent each.

Shares of Chicago-based Midway were down 2 cents at 17 cents in afternoon trade on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Sandhya Menon in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)