Midway Sale Approved, Studios Still Facing Closure

Midway's sale to Warner Bros. has been approved by a U.S. bankruptcy court, which also noted that objections to the sale, including a lawsuit filed by Mortal Kombat film producer Lawrence Kasanoff, have been "resolved."

Warner offered $33 million to buy "substantially all" of Midway's assets in what turned out to be the only bid on the bankrupt company. The deal had been opposed by several parties, including Kasanoff, the producer of the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, and Vin Diesel's Tigon Studios, which developed Wheelman alongside Midway in 2009, but the judge in the case indicated that all such objections had been resolved.

The settlement between majority shareholder Mark Thomas and Midway's unsecured creditors has also been approved. Thomas agreed to walk away from Midway and give up $30 million in secured debt and $40 in unsecured debt in exchange for a $5 million payout. Thomas purchased an 87 percent stake in Midway from Sumner Redstone in December 2008 for $100,000.

Unfortunately, the deal won't save Midway's studios in San Diego or Newcastle, which were not picked up in the sale. A Midway rep told Joystiq that it hasn't received bids on either of the studios and has thus given employees a 60-day notice of forthcoming closure as required by U.S. law. But the company rep expressed hope that someone would rescue the San Diego operation before the shutdown, saying, "For now those employees are continuing to work and it's still entirely possible that a bidder could come in and acquire the San Diego assets."

The sale of Midway to Warner Bros. is expected to close within ten days.

Source: Chicago Tribune, via GamePolitics

Permalink

There goes another game company, but for everyone that goes under 3 more pop up so Midway won't be missed. Thank you for Pac-Man, Tron,Quake and UT3 though.

Considering how long many of us have grown up with Midway, this is quite depressing news. But still, I hope these guys can move on with other game companies. I look forward to seeing some influence in the game world by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Mortal Kombat are forever cemented as classics. R.I.P. Midway.

I feel bad for them. They are the reason people need age limits on games because of excessive violence. Thank you for Mortal Kombat, and many years of serive and making this industry thrive with you input. You will be missed.

That's a lot of gamebrains ripe for picking. I am hoping the objectors are happy with whatever resolution the judge said had happened. Otherwise we can look forward to lawsuits down the road when old Midway franchises are reborn.

Warner bros. better not release anymore crappy mortal kombat games or heads will roll

because i will be doing fatalitys on the older games

Malygris:
Thomas agreed to walk away from Midway and give up $30 million in secured debt and $40 in unsecured debt in exchange for a $5 million payout.

Sorry, but shouldn't that be $40 million? not $40. $40 seems like a miserly low ammount to demand.

Midway is not gone, not completly. They are even working on the next Mortal Kombat game as we speak. WB will be getting a cut now though.