Midway's money almost all the way gone

by JC Fletcher { Apr 10th 2009 at 9:16AM }

A US bankruptcy court document filed by Midway owner Mark Thomas (whoever that is!) reveals some dire information about the publisher that helps us understand how the mysterious Thomas was able to acquire the company for $100,000.

According to GamePolitics' summary of the document, "Midway will run out of cash in late June," having "operated at a loss for most of the last decade. In addition, the publisher "overstated the value of the Mortal Kombat franchise." CitiGroup attempted, and failed, to find a buyer for Midway, which meant that Thomas had little or no competition.

All of this information is just what hasn't been redacted in the document. We assume that the redacted portions deal with the fact that Sinistar is real and that Midway has been exhausting its cash reserves to mine Sinisite in order to make Sinibombs.

Tags: bankruptcy, industry, mark-thomas, midway, mortal-kombat

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

JuanDHexen @ Apr 10th 2009 9:25AM

Tough break for Midway hopefully Mortal Kombats new owners can re-invent it back to 2D.

rov947 @ Apr 10th 2009 9:27AM

ahh, MK GOLD, you were underrated.

Gavin @ Apr 10th 2009 9:51AM

Note to self: Selling crappy video games is not a good business model.

Lee @ Apr 10th 2009 10:17AM

yea the problem with newer Mortal Kombat games is that they're garbage. yet they throw in so many features and unlockables that nobody gives 2 shits about.

InvaderDem @ Apr 10th 2009 9:53AM

That's crazy, man. Either companies are being acquired by other companies or they risk failing. Tough economic times and high production costs are killing game companies, it seems. That's why I'd guess that digital downloads (XBL/PSN/WW) will be much more common in the next generation of consoles.

Linkario @ Apr 10th 2009 3:58PM

...or scenario C, which is what Midway fell victim to. The scenario where you re-release every game 30 times and create "new" versions of said games that suck harder than the inhaling force of all hooker and vacuums combined.

refinedsugar @ Apr 10th 2009 10:23AM

The video game industry is not unlike the automotive sector's uncertainty. Some people just got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up losing their shirt (no fault of their own), but then there is also those who seen it coming, did nothing or made the problem worse and helped themselves along to the grave.

To the "classic" MKs ... to the classic Midway ... you will be remembered. To this decrepit current rendition of Midway ... not so much.

whylekat @ Apr 10th 2009 10:32AM

Serves them right for making MK vs DC rated Teen. What a waste of the franchise. I def would've bought it if it were Mature and had all the blood and unedited fatalities like it was supposed to. The same goes for most of my friends. That's another 12 sales right there!

So totally weak.

wittlecho @ Apr 10th 2009 11:05AM

Part of the license agreement to use the DC characters was that the game had to be Teen rated. If it were up to Midway it would have been Mature but it was not.

whylekat @ Apr 10th 2009 12:15PM

So it's DC's fault? They = failure.

Midway should've released a M-rated Directors cut or something.

Ghen @ Apr 10th 2009 10:39AM

Cinnibuns? yespls

Oobgarm @ Apr 10th 2009 11:47AM

I HUNGER

tsoul @ Apr 10th 2009 12:20PM

License Unreal Engine tech for tons of money, check. License popular DC characters for tons of money, check. Going bankrupt for making crappy fighting game with said licenses, double check.

Midway's philosophy showed its true colors and finally caught up with them. You can't keep making "generic" feeling (read: low quality/cookie cutter) games forever. It always felt like they were out to make a quick buck and people got sick of it.

The MK series was fun when they used live actor/motion capture. Gave it a unique feel. MK 1/2 (lost the feeling for 3) were great times, but were utterly flawed. The infinites and/or other stupid things you could do to drain your opponent 80%+ of life in no time are reasons why MK was never picked up for things like Evo fighting tourneys. Heck, those still remain to this day (look up Superman and Flash infinites). With all that money that they burned through, they could've easily made a fair and balanced (and fun!) MK game. Instead, they produced some whack 3d versions where people pull weapons out of their asses.