News | Latest on Midway Sale

[Guest C. Dowds]

[quote][b]Midway Sale Approved, Studios Still Facing Closure[/b]
Andy Chalk posted on 2 Jul 2009 7:53 pm

[url="http://www.midway.com/"]Midway[/url]'s sale to [url="http://www.warnerbros.com/"]Warner Bros.[/url] 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 [url="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/92711-Midway-Sued-Over-Mortal-Kombat-Rights"]Kasanoff[/url], the producer of the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, and Vin Diesel's [url="http://www.tigonstudios.com/"]Tigon Studios[/url], which developed [url="http://wheelmangame.uk.ubi.com/site/"]Wheelman[/url] 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 [url="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/92227"]agreed to walk away[/url] 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 [url="http://www.midway.com/us/MidwayStudioPhotosSanDiego.html"]San Diego[/url] or [url="http://www.midway.com/us/MidwayStudioPhotosNewcastle.html"]Newcastle[/url], which were not picked up in the sale. A Midway rep told [url="http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/02/midway-studios-not-acquired-by-wb-to-shut-down-within-60-days/"]Joystiq[/url] 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: [url="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu-midway-games-0702-jul02,0,6683681.story"]Chicago Tribune[/url], via [url="http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/07/02/midway-sale-warner-bros-gains-court-approval"]GamePolitics[/url][/quote]

[url="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/92873-Midway-Sale-Approved-Studios-Still-Facing-Closure"][b]Source:[/b] [url="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/92873-Midway-Sale-Approved-Studios-Still-Facing-Closure"]http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/...-Facing-Closure[/url][/url]

Well, what do you think?

Will [i]Midway San Diego[/i] ([i]the studio which makes TNA [b]iMPACT![/b][/i]) get a bidder within the next two months?

Discuss.

[CHAZmaniac]

Impact 2 will exist, I just severely doubt it will be with Midway and if it will be soon.

[Guest C. Dowds]

Yes, but is it possible for a company to make [i][b]iMPACT! 2[/b][/i] with the work that has already been done after the 60 days, or can they only buy all that stuff within 60 days?


Like, will all of the development that has been made on [i][b]iMPACT! 2[/b][/i] just going to be destroyed, if someone doesn't buy the assets within the 60 days?

[TheNetworkZ]

iMPACT! 2 will exist. Whoever buys it will work on from what they have.

[Young.]

i have hope it will exist

[american dream]

Where's AKI when you need them... someone needs to pick this up, as I would like to see the improvements over the 1st one. Though I despise the 1st TNA game, it can be improved, just like any other game.