Midway Sale to Warner Bros. Deal Approved

Written on July 6, 2009 at 10:54 am, by Jason McMaster

Chicago-based Midway, a once powerful gaming giant, has now gained approval to sell to Warner Bros. for $33 million. A Delaware bankruptcy judge found that all outstanding issues with the sale have been resolved and proceedings can move forward. The sale will cover “substantially all” of Midway’s assets to Warner Bros., the only company to place a bid.

If the sale goes through, Warner Bros. would assume control of the intellectual property for Mortal Kombat, Wheelman and most other current and older Midway assets. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty psyched about the thought of Mortal Kombat vs. F.E.A.R. or Wanted vs. Blitz.

WBIE highest bidder in Midway Auction..

Written on June 29, 2009 at 1:57 pm, by James Fudge

According to several sources, most notably the L.A. Times, Warner Bros. has emerged as the sole bidder in the Midway bankruptcy auction - an event that the company had hoped would pull its fanny ever so slightly out of the financial fire. Midway put its assets up for auction in hopes of getting a high asking price than the 33 million USD that Warner Bros. wanted to give them, but no other offers came in.

Midway spokesman Geoff Mogilner told the L.A. times that the auction was basically “off” at this point.

Where Midway goes from here is unknown at this time. Does it accept the offers from Warner Bros. or keep looking for better deals? According to the report a Chicago investment firm and several publishers were interested in the auction, but apparently not enough to go above and beyond what WBIE has on the table.

Adding to the complication is a Tigon Studios claim that Midway owes it $200,000 for work on the Wheelman game and filmmaker Larry Kasanoff’s lawsuit over the Mortal Kombat rights..

Warner Bros. offers $34 million to Midway

Written on May 22, 2009 at 3:05 am, by James Fudge

Midway just might live to fight another day, but it could be under an entirely different company banner. The troubled publisher dumped by Sumner Redstone announced that Warner Bros. has made a $33 million offer to buy the company’s US assets. Under the agreement, Warner could acquire the Mortal Kombat series and Midway’s Chicago and Seattle studios. Midway’s Newcastle and San Diego studios are not included in the deal, nor is the firm’s TNA series.

The deal is currently under consideration with the US Bankruptcy Court in NY. No doubt Midway’s shareholders are paying close attention to what is going on with this deal - alongside creditors who are looking to paid back.

Prior to the approval of the deal, there will be a court-supervised auction process to deal with any potential rival bids. The auction would be to secure the highest value possible for the company’s stakeholders. More news as it develops.

Source

What’s Next for Mortal Kombat?

Written on March 2, 2009 at 3:34 pm, by David Chapman

Ever since Midway’s financial troubles started coming to a head, there’s been no shortage of interesting developments. First came Sumner Redstone’s fire sale of his Midway stock, which ended up raising more than a few eyebrows when the sale ultimately forced Midway into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Then came word that the beleaguered publisher had entered into an agreement with Ubisoft which will see Midway’s upcoming Vin Diesel helmed game, Wheelman, hitting store shelves with the Ubi logo. Now, in the wake of this week’s news that the Mortal Kombat franchise is up for sale, you can’t help but wonder just what’s going to become of the venerable fighting game franchise.

Of course, those of us here at Crispy Gamer are never ones to shy away from rampant speculation, so we took a long look into our magic crystal ball we keep locked away in the Crispy Vault (which in turn is hidden deep in the confines of the Crispy Cave), and came up with these potential fates for Mortal Kombat. Mind you, with the power to few these endless potential possibilities, some are bound to be a little more believable than others:

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Midway Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Written on February 12, 2009 at 12:53 pm, by David Chapman

While the gaming industry was surprised this morning by the announcement that Square Enix was looking to buy Eidos, one other major bit of gaming financial news today, unfortunately, isn’t such a surprise. This morning, Midway announced that it has filed for voluntary reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. The company’s non-U.S. operations will continue with business as normal.

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European MK vs DC to Keep Uncut Fatalities?

Written on November 6, 2008 at 2:11 pm, by David Chapman

Like many comic book fans, I’m anxious to see just how the whole Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game comes together. Meanwhile, the gamer in me was a bit disappointed when I found out that the game’s Teen rating meant some of the content had to be a bit … well … “sanitized”. Now, in a strange twist of fate, it looks like European gamers will be getting their hands on a version of MK vs. DCU that’s just a bit more hardcore.

In an interview at Videogamer.com, senior producer Hans Lo told the site discussed the news that Fatalities, particularly the Joker’s now infamous pop gun finisher, would show up on the European version uncut and intact:

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Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Gold

Written on November 5, 2008 at 8:14 pm, by James Fudge

Midway Games announced that Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe has gone gold and is scheduled to be available in retail stores throughout North America on November 16, 2008, and throughout Europe on November 21, 2008. The next chapter in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe showcases the best heroes and villains of both the DC Comics and Mortal Kombat univereses.

DC Comics characters in the game include SUPERMAN, BATMAN and WONDER WOMAN, and Mortal Kombat stars such as Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Raiden. Making a fiendish appearance alongside their comic counterparts will be notorious DC Universe villains such as CATWOMAN, LEX LUTHOR and The Joker, who along with MK favorites such as Liu Kang, Sonya and Shao Kahn, all play a part in the mystery of these two universes intersecting.

Look for the game in stores a mere 11 days.