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Warner Bros. only bidder for Midway assets

  • By Matthew Peters, GameSpot
  • Posted Jun 29, 2009 1:33 pm PT

Media giant will buy most of the bankrupt publisher for $33 million pending court issues.

After Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment offered $33 million to buy up most of Midway Games' bankrupt assets in May, the ailing developer planned to auction off its assets in the hopes that other parties would outbid WBIE. However, with the bidding deadline expiring last week, the Los Angeles Times reports that WBIE remains the sole bidder on Midway Games' assets, dashing Midway's desire for a more lucrative acquisition of its holdings, which include its ultraviolent fighter franchise, Mortal Kombat.

According to the LA Times, several game publishers and a Chicago investment group considered bidding for Midway's assets, but none decided to follow through with an offer.

"No other bids came in before the deadline, so there's obviously not going to be an auction," Midway spokesman Geoff Mogilner told GameSpot.

WBIE's winning bid removes a major roadblock in its acquisition of Midway's holdings. The acquisition process will commence pending the resolution of complaints filed in court. One of the complaints is a lawsuit filed by Hollywood producer Larry Kasanoff concerning film and TV rights to Midway's Mortal Kombat series. The producer alleges that Midway gave him exclusive rights to make films and TV shows based on the series, and those rights cannot be transferred to whoever acquires Midway. The issue will be heard in court Wednesday, and once the issues are resolved and the bankruptcy court approves WBIE's bid, the acquisition will close 10 days later, Mogilner said to the LA Times.

If WBIE acquires Midway, it will acquire not only its Mortal Kombat series, but also properties such as the Spy Hunter, Joust, and Wheelman titles. However, WBIE did not bid for some of Midway's assets, including its studios in Newcastle, UK (Wheelman), and San Diego (TNA Impact) or the TNA Impact wrestling license. Earlier this month, Midway's Newcastle studio revealed its all-new IP, Necessary Force, in an effort to attract a buyer. A Midway representative confirmed for GameSpot that the company's remaining assets could still be purchased by other parties in light of WBIE's decision not to include them in the deal.

When or if WBIE acquires Midway, it will not assume any of Midway's debts or liabilities or become entangled in the legal actions surrounding the publisher's deeply discounted sale to a mystery buyer in 2008.

32 Comments

  • Glade_Gnarr

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:41 pm GMT

    Seeing their franchises I can safeley say that Midway's been dead for quite a while.

  • Balo_the_Gamer

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:35 pm GMT

    Is Mortal Kombat worth 33 million?
    Reboot Spy Hunter and Wheelman
    And bring Joust into the modern systems!!

  • Zero9698

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:45 pm GMT

    ID BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR LOL

  • DarkStreetDev

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 8:11 am GMT

    Wonder how this will affect This is Vegas?

  • LosDaddie

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 5:54 am GMT

    Great news

  • the_real_luigi

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 4:35 pm GMT

    "Now we will see Micky doing fatalities.."

    ??? I take it that you ment Mickey? Pssst... I have news for ya... Mickey is not owned by Warner Brothers... Mel Blanc and Walt Disney are probably rolling in their graves on that comment it's OK though. We are all entitled to make mistakes every once in a while; we're only human. Now Yo Samity Sam in Mortal Kombat? Now that's absolute comedy!

  • Mcgnnis1

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 11:22 am GMT

    i think that it will be good for Midway owned franchises that now they will be under a bigger and a financially well company.

  • Jonas008

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:48 am GMT

    Now we will see Micky doing fatalities..

  • jaredcrazy3232

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:34 am GMT

    plus at least warner bros. knows how to treat its licenses, unlike other studios ahem 20th century fox ahem....

  • jaredcrazy3232

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:32 am GMT

    what about blitz and hitz franchises?

  • NBA_Jammer

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 10:25 am GMT

    Wonder if there will be a NBA Jam that will look like Space Jam now...

  • backatcha

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:34 am GMT

    Maybe Warner Brothers will be able to get Midway back on track.

  • travisstaggs

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 9:02 am GMT

    Ugh, why Warner Bros?

  • RazerBlade13

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 8:13 am GMT

    Any hardcore Mortal Kombat fan will be crying in a corner right now.

  • StillFreeTagger

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 6:08 am GMT

    Here's to hoping. I think Mortal Kombat will do good under Warner Bros. We may get another, better movie deal out of it.

  • Excedra

    Posted Jun 30, 2009 3:14 am GMT

    hah whatever

  • nurse_tsunami

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 9:58 pm GMT

    I am surprised that no one else wants a crack at the Mortal Kombat IP. It has really fallen from its pedestal since its days on the SNES/Sega.

  • firedrakes

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 9:16 pm GMT

    lol well midway you got owned by your own greed

  • godzillavskong

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 6:42 pm GMT

    Midway really did tarnish their name with the quality of titles they put out recently. It started to get so bad for me that if I seen a game with the Midway logo I was instantly skeptical.Hopefully Warner Bros. gets them on the right path.Bring back NBA Jams!!

  • SalarianChemist

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 5:45 pm GMT

    Midway just never had what it took to do well this generation. Having the ability to program games changes each generation. This is no longer an era when two guys can single-handedly program a sprite-based game like Mortal Kombat on an inexpensive device that produces state-of-the-art graphics. This generation it takes dozens of programmers a great deal of time using very expensive equipment to program games. Midway didn't focus their resources in the correct ways. Midway should have been focusing on the PC, Wii, and Xbox 360 in unique ways devoted to take advantage of their large markets. Hopefully Warner Bros. won't make the same mistakes.

  • Colsworl

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 5:09 pm GMT

    Come on there is so much potential with the TNA license. It's a new franchise that could rival the Smackdown game (in terms of quality and sales) a few years down the line. I'm really hoping a company with experience of fighting games picks it up. The first game was such a solid foundation but that's all it was.

  • ldonyo

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 4:58 pm GMT

    This has been known for weeks and gets mentioned in any article regarding Midway since the end of May. Did you just figure this out, GS?

  • athenian29

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 4:45 pm GMT

    As long as Unreal Tournament 3 doesn't see any problems from this, I don't mind what happens.

  • Wings_008

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 4:12 pm GMT

    they just to put thier hands on the MK's IP, no surprise there

  • buffdaddy69

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 3:02 pm GMT

    " TBoogy

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 10:19 pm GMT

    I just hope someone competent picks up the TNA license. Someone needs to compete with THQ and the WWE games.
    Maybe Take Two?"

    What TNA needs to do is get AKI to work on their TNA games, then the TNA Game will truly blow Smackdown vs Raw out of the water. C'moooooon guuuuuy!

    The creators of WWF No Mercy making an awesome TNA game to completly **** on Smackdown vs Raw? That would be bad ass.

  • buffdaddy69

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 3:01 pm GMT

    Get ready for more Teen Rated Mortal Kombat's =-D

  • NICKKELANIUS

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 2:49 pm GMT

    companies who cant survive are disorganized, selfish and if they cant survive thats their problem

  • SonicRaptor

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 2:48 pm GMT

    This is a win for WB, they have been looking to get into the games industry for a while and this is their foot in the door.

  • Misfit1119

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 2:47 pm GMT

    @k0r3aN_pR1d3: You realy haven't been paying attention have you? Look up WBIE online - they're the gaming branch of Warner Bros.. Here, lemme do it for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros._Interactive_Entertainment

    These are the guys who are responsible for seeing games like Wanted, Watchmen, Condemned and many others. They have numerous subsidiaries who make some pretty good, or at least average, games.

  • TBoogy

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 2:19 pm GMT

    I just hope someone competent picks up the TNA license. Someone needs to compete with THQ and the WWE games.
    Maybe Take Two?

  • k0r3aN_pR1d3

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 2:07 pm GMT

    Just kill off Midway. It is a bleeding to death company that is incapable of correcting it's pocket books. Why should Hollywood start getting involved with the video game industry? Aren't movies and DVD and television good enough for them?

  • MalachiLiu

    Posted Jun 29, 2009 2:07 pm GMT

    Looks like they're gonna get away with a deal.

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