Warner Bros. acquires Midway by default, was the only one ‘serious’

Midway is now owned by Warner Bros. — by default. The LA Times report that the media conglomerate has won the bidding rights to Midway for US$ 33 million. So how come they won it by default? According to reports, the big WB was the only one who had a “serious offer”.

Midway is now owned by Warner Bros. — by default. The LA Times report that the media conglomerate has won the bidding rights to Midway for US$ 33 million. So how come they won it by default? According to reports, the big WB was the only one who had a “serious offer”.

Midway was hoping for a bidding war that would up the price, but although several game publishers had been checking the Midway merch, none of them really stood up to to the plate. Said Geoff Mogilner, spokesman for Midway, “No other bids came in, so there’s not going to be an auction.”

As part of the acquisition bundle, WB will now also own the development studios in Chicago and Seattle, as well as rights to new and classic IP.

Only yesterday, we reported that Midway has been sued by a movie producer over IP rights to Mortal Kombat. Midway’s financial woes started late last year when their stocks fell by 40%. The Unreal Engine 3 was among those factors accused of causing the stress in their bank accounts, but despite all these, they remained focus on churning out new iterations for the MK franchise — or at least were determined to continue with it.

• Midway manages to buy some time to avoid bankruptcy
• Next Mortal Kombat to bring back the blood and gore

Via LA Times