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Amid Midway / Warner Bros. transition, Midway name up in the air
Various outlets reported this morning that, based on the Twitter accounts of a few Midway employees, the company name will be dissolved in the acquisition of Midway by Warner Bros. Midway's Geoff Mogilner told us this morning that those reports are simply unfounded. "The name and the mark are owned by Warner Bros. and it is up to them to figure out the branding strategy," Mogilner said to Joystiq. In the midst of buying and selling various Midway properties, basic things like the company name can easily be swept under the rug and forgotten about while people talk about intellectual properties and trademarks.According to Mogilner, when WB officially acquired Midway in an auction last month, it not only bought various IP (Mortal Kombat, Spy Hunter, etc.) but also the branding. "They [WB] bought the assets and the trademark and all the copyrights and the logo and all that ... to say the name is dead, it's silly but, ya know, it's premature -- the company Midway Games, Inc. still exists," Mogilner told us. He is, of course, speaking about the remaining studios still owned by Midway -- Midway Newcastle and San Diego among them -- who he says are still up for auction, "At this point, as long as they're open, we can still get bids. We're actively trying to figure out that situation. We were required (and it was prudent) to give notice to the people at those studios." We've contacted Warner Bros. for comment on whether or not it will continue using the Midway name on future ex-Midway products and have yet to hear back as of publishing.Update: Warner Bros. has responded to our request for comment with, well, no comment. We asked the company if it will be using the Midway name going forward on ex-Midway products, to which WB officially responded, "We [WB] are not yet commenting on Midway." That's all (for now), folks![Via Big Download] [Image]
The rest of Midway is up for auction
Apparently, struggling publisher Midway has more than just Warner Bros. bidding on its remaining assets. After last week's announcement of WB's $33 million dollar offer to acquire the lion's share of Midway's properties, Midway released a statement today detailing the process and, in so many words, is allowing for larger bids. "Midway recently announced a stalking horse asset purchase agreement, which is expected to receive court approval, subject to higher or better bids, in a hearing on June 2, 2009," reads the statement. Additionally, all remaining assets owned by Midway are available for bidding as well -- including the TNA Wrestling franchise not included in the WB bid -- until the court-supervised auction takes place on June 29th.Midway's Geoff Mogilner told Joystiq this afternoon that today's release "doesn't change that agreement [with WB]" and either side will suffer financial penalties for backing out. He also noted that the acquisition has no effect on the development teams employed by Midway as "people aren't assets." Yet, Geoff. Yet. Seriously though, he told us that any bidder wishing to acquire development teams would have to engage in a "separate acquisition" and any winning bidder on Midway's assets won't take on any of the massive debt the company is currently weighed down by. He also noted that the recipient(s) of the money from this auction have yet to be decided. Standing in line for a payout are a laundry list of creditors along with mystery man Mark Thomas.
