Midway suffers midsized losses

Midway, the publisher once thought to be the next jewel in the Viacom multimedia empire's crown, reported earnings today for the quarter ending September 30, 2006. The publisher suffered a $22.2 million loss for the quarter, up from a $29.1 million loss during the same period in 2005.

That was the good news. Midway also saw overall revenue slide 7 percent during the quarter, which ended before its most recent high-profile release, the solid-selling and decently reviewed Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, hit stores last month. The company, which called out Ant Bully and Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War as being its top titles for the quarter, took in $27.4 million during the three-month period, down from $29.5 million.

Despite the shortfall, Midway executives were bullish in their outlook. "We were pleased to exceed our financial expectations for the third quarter and to continue our relationship with Warner Bros. with the third-quarter release of The Ant Bully and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy," said CEO and president David Zucker.

Both Ant Bully and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy are slated to be launch titles for the Wii, which goes on sale November 19. In addition, the company is also set to release Happy Feet (Wii, PC, PlayStation 2, GameCube, DS, Game Boy Advance), a tie-in to the Warner Bros. computer-animated, penguin-centric comedy coming to theaters November 17. A Wii version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is due out early next year.