Midway secures second debt extension

By Tom Magrino, GameSpotPosted Jan 16, 2009 5:02 pm PT

Mortal Kombat publisher receives slight reprieve on $150 million in outstanding credit; new deadline set for February 12.

Midway remains financially dazed, but nobody is yet calling for creditors to "finish him!" Faced with a seemingly insurmountable debt load of $240 million, the Mortal Kombat publisher revealed in December that it had until mid-January to pay off $150 million of the outstanding credit. Last week, Midway said that it had received a reprieve of sorts, reaching an agreement with a portion of its creditors to delay payment on half of the debt until February 19.

Things could be worse.

Now, Midway has gained a measure more of breathing room. Last night, the publisher announced it had reached a new agreement with its creditors, saying that the entire $150 million sum is now due by February 12.

The publisher's grim financial situation was spurred by National Amusement CEO Sumner Redstone's fire sale of his controlling stake in the game maker in November. The 85-year-old media mogul, whose company faces mounting debt of its own, sold his 92.1 million shares for a mere $100,000 to private financier Mark Thomas. The transaction came out to roughly $0.0012 a share, far below the $0.33-per-share price the publisher had been trading at before the sale.

In announcing the first half of its credit extension last week, a senior Midway representative confirmed for GameSpot that the financial upheaval was not expected to affect the ship date of The Wheelman, which is expected to arrive for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on February 16.

93 Comments

  • axeman87

    Posted Jan 21, 2009 6:40 pm PT

    Thats a real shame. The last MK effort was pretty poor though, and MW certainly didnt get my $100 for it. I am tempted to purchase a copy only because I am hopefull for the next MK, but I think the T rating was to big a kick in the balls.......

  • mvlbr

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 4:07 pm PT

    Can you say Chapter 7?

  • Defender1978

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 3:12 pm PT

    Midways hasn't made a spectacular game since MK vs. DC. Yep.

  • faceman420

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 12:06 pm PT

    Midway hasn't made a truly great game since NFL Blitz 2000...

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 9:48 am PT

    I really love midway. I hope they pull through. I dont care if EA has to buy them or anything. I just want them to stay alive. I have been playing midway games since they were just in arcades. They are honestly one of the oldest if not the oldest gaming developer. They have made so many hits and I am a huge fan of MK vs. DC. You know. Midway deserves help. That guy that sold them out should be put in jail for real.

  • Justinian103

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 7:35 am PT

    Whats happening to Midway and Edios are so similar it`s scary. Two publishing companies that put too much faith into old franchises from the 90`s only to be disappointed by them. Now Edios is "revamping" Tomb Raider again in like 2 years time. It` a shame because both Tomb raider Underworld and MK vs DC are good games. I personally haven`t cared about MK in 10 years but MK vs DC caught my attention and it is the best game they developed in a long time. Same for Tomb Raider Underworld. True both games could have been a little better but it is a step in the right direction in terms of quality which is always a good thing. these devlopers and publishers need to understand that quality and labor of love projects will sell because us gamers work hard for our money and will not buy garbage anymore. We all grew up in that aspect. So both Edios and Midway need to put up giant plaques in their building lobbies with that one word on it, QUALITY!!!

  • jadefury27

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 7:09 am PT

    This'll teach ya to make a "T" rated mortal kombat!

  • biokrysty

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 6:02 am PT

    dunno

  • demental81

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 4:23 am PT

    so whats ed boon and those guys ganna do?

  • richioso

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 2:56 am PT

    wheelman is not going to save Midway

  • masterds64

    Posted Jan 20, 2009 12:30 am PT

    ...mk vs marvel, wasn't that done by capcom?

    I hope they survive...just long enough to port the mk games to the wii...I'll pay up then...all the other games they made are getting worse (all the arcade-ish stuff is getting dull).

  • TheArcade

    Posted Jan 19, 2009 9:29 pm PT

    They should bring the Saturn version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy to XBLA, PSN, and Wiiware, with improved visuals and faster load times. I don't care about character in-balances just exe out the bosses in online mode. This MK is another fan favorite besides MK2 and UMK3.

    Someone posted down mentioned Ready 2 Rumble Boxing that was another epic classic. I think it would be well recieved on XBLA/PSN/Wiiware. For Midway to port them to the download circuit would be a genius business move. It can put some money in their pocket.

    Hope for Midway's sake Wheelman does well.

  • hatieshorrer

    Posted Jan 19, 2009 8:57 pm PT

    I dont see how they can get that money that fast without making the company even more worthless.

  • baggao

    Posted Jan 19, 2009 2:22 pm PT

    Ready2Rumble on the PSP how that sound to u all?

  • Ballistic90

    Posted Jan 19, 2009 1:15 pm PT

    Unreal Tournament 3 4ever!!!!

  • dr_jashugan

    Posted Jan 19, 2009 1:13 pm PT

    Auto Fatality!

  • spikex8

    Posted Jan 19, 2009 11:23 am PT

    Wow that dude lost like $30 million, if the company DOESN'T go t!ts up he's gonna be kickin' himself

  • GatCloudX

    Posted Jan 19, 2009 11:09 am PT

    MK vs capcom vs marvel that would be the sh!#

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