Midway Offloading Mortal Kombat (And Screwing Former Employees)Posted by Luke Plunkett at 5:30 PM on March 2, 2009Midway, publishers of the Mortal Kombat franchise, are in trouble. And how are they looking at getting out of trouble? By giving Midway executives bonuses! Oh, and by selling off Mortal Kombat.Court documents surrounding the company's fight for survival have shown that Midway executives have set aside $3,755,000 in bonuses, which is to be divided amongst the company's upper management tier if they're able to meet certain goals.One of those goals was in offloading Wheelman, which Ubisoft just picked up. So that's $497,500 in the pocket. Another objective is being able to secure the "execution of an asset purchase agreement for the sale of Midway's Mortal Kombat franchise assets".On the one hand, selling off the Mortal Kombat rights might net them enough cash to keep their heads above water. On the other, however, Mortal Kombat is the only thing Midway have left.Oh, and if you're wondering where a company can find $3,755,000 while in the midst of filing for bankruptcy, that's easy! They can take it by holding out on paying sacked employees the remainder of their PTO (personal time off), something Midway originally promised they'd do.Below is an original letter, dated February 9, promising the payment of PTO. Below that, a letter dated February 20, outlining Midway's plan to suspend those promised payments.
in russia/ole country/red china.. the right thing would be done...if they killed the guys who they blame for puttin de ting in de milk..imagine wah woulda go on with losing 61 billion dollars...
Kotaku: Mortal Kombat Team Looking To Split From MidwayPosted On: Apr 06 2009, 11:44 PMKotaku has recently reported that the Mortal Kombat development team is looking for a way to leave Midway.From the article:Mortal Kombat Team Looking To Split From MidwayMidway's team of developers responsible for the 17-year-old Mortal Kombat franchise is currently in active talks with other publishers to leave the company and for its own studio, sources tell Kotaku.The MK team, which comprises about 50 developers, is said to be in discussions with a handful of unnamed publishers, with senior members of the group handling negotiations for a possible exodus from Midway. According to Midway sources who wished to remain anonymous, one of the catalysts for the move is a lack of payment in bonuses due to MK team members based on meeting Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe sales targets.Sources said that the Mortal Kombat team has become increasingly "frustrated" with the handling of Midway's bankruptcy filing. MK staffers also expressed irritation from being in the position of delivering million unit-selling titles on time and on a bi-annual schedule while other projects at the company languish in development.Midway representatives, when contacted for comment, opted not to discuss the Mortal Kombat team's plans, saying that the team was in "good shape." They did, however, want to stress that Midway itself is not withholding any owed payment to the Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe developers."Midway is not refusing to pay out those bonuses," PR reps told us. "It's the unsecured creditors committee that is refusing to allow us to pay them. They're the ones holding that up."If the MK team—who are apparently not under contract at Midway—does find a new studio to call home at a publisher other than Midway, the fighting game franchise may not go with them. That, as well as having to abandon work on the follow-up to MK vs. DC, tentatively titled Mortal Kombat 9, was going to be "tough."Should the key Mortal Kombat talent leave, it could be a substantial blow to the ailing Midway, which has already closed and consolidated many of its in-house development teams.
Midway Initiates Section 363 Sale ProcessPosted On: May 24 2009, 04:51 PMIn a press release Midway announced that it has entered into a "stalking horse" asset purchase agreement with Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE:TWX), and filed a sale and bid procedures motion with the Bankruptcy Court to conduct the sale of the Company’s assets pursuant to Section 363 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The Mortal Kombat franchise is one of the things included in the sale. From the press release:MIDWAY INITIATES SECTION 363 SALE PROCESSSeeks Bankruptcy Court Approval for Sale of Assets for a Minimum of $33 MillionWarner Bros. Entertainment Emerges as "Stalking Horse" BidderCHICAGO – May 21, 2009 – Midway Games Inc. today announced that it has entered into a "stalking horse" asset purchase agreement with Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE:TWX), and filed a sale and bid procedures motion with the Bankruptcy Court to conduct the sale of the Company’s assets pursuant to Section 363 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The bid procedures will provide for notice to be given to third parties of the pending sale to Warner Bros. Entertainment and offer the opportunity for interested parties to bid on the Company's assets.Under the agreement, Warner Bros. Entertainment would acquire substantially all of the Company's U.S. assets including its Mortal Kombat franchise and its development studios in Chicago and Seattle for a purchase price of $33,000,000, subject to adjustment as of the closing for changes in inventory, plus the agreed value of the Company's U.S. account receivables. The agreement does not include the Company's development studio in San Diego and the TNA franchise games, nor does it include the Company's development studio in Newcastle which had developed the Company's recently released Wheelman game.Prior to court approval of the Warner agreement, there will be a court-supervised auction process to facilitate competitive bidding by other qualified buyers. This process is intended to achieve the highest value possible for the Company's stakeholders. The bidding procedures, if approved, would require interested parties to submit binding offers to acquire some or all of the Company’s assets within approximately 30 days of court approval of the bid procedures. Assuming qualified bids are submitted, an auction would be held a few days prior to the sale hearing. A court hearing approving the sale to the winning bidder or bidders would be held soon after the conclusion of the auction, followed by a final closing.Once the bid procedures have been approved by the Bankruptcy Court, the Company will announce the initiation of the formal bidding process, and at such time interested parties will be asked to contact the Company's financial advisor, Lazard, for more information on the bidding process.
