Who bought Midway, the company that created the Mortal Kombat characters?”
Ailing videogame publisher Midway, the company that brought us Mortal Kombat, Spy Hunter, Gauntlet, and Joust among other games, has been sold to Warner Bros. for $33 million. Midway had hoped to go for a higher bid through auction, but WB was the only bidder for the company. The sale was approved by a US court yesterday and will become final ten days from the approval date.
A Bankruptcy Court judge on Wednesday approved the sale of most of Midway Games’ assets to Warner Bros. for $33 million in cash, removing the last big obstacle for the movie studio to acquire the rights to Mortal Kombat, Spy Hunter, Joust and a small library of classic game franchises. Warner will also gain two development studios in Seattle and Chicago. The Chicago game publisher filed for bankruptcy protection this year after it was unable to satisfy creditors. Last year, majority owner and media mogul Sumner Redstone sold his 87% to Mark E. Thomas, a mysterious Massachusetts investor with no experience in video games, for a mere $100,000. As a result, the financially troubled Redstone was able to claim a $700-million tax loss in 2008. It turned out to be a sweet deal for Thomas, who received $5 million from the sale to Warner Bros., according to the Chicago Tribune. Warner Bros. was the only bidder to emerge last month in the sale of Midway’s assets. Warner has not said what it plan
Midway announced on May 21, 2009 that Warner Bros. had bid $33 million for most of the assets of Midway Games, including their Chicago and Seattle studios and the Mortal Kombat franchise.[6] Midway later announced that it would accept offers up until June 24, 2009, to acquire some or all of the company’s assets, followed by an auction.[7] However, no other bids were placed for Midway’s assets.[8] On July 1, 2009, a Delaware bankruptcy judge approved the $33 million sale of most of the company’s assets to Warner Bros.[9] On July 2, 2009, it was reported that the Midway Newcastle and Midway San Diego studios, and various “old sports titles” that were not included in the deal, are scheduled to close in 60 days if no one buys them.
