Midway Stock Take Further Plunge

Posted by Sinden Lee - Thursday, December 04, 2008 2:54 PM

When Summer Redstone offloaded his majority 87% stake of Midway earlier this week, the share was at a dismal $.18.

As if things couldn't get any worse, they have. The company's stock has dropped 40%.

If they cannot pull it together within 30 days and bring their stock up to $1 per share, the New York Stock Exchange will be delisting them.

How quickly Midway went from being listed at #19 video game publisher in 2005 by Game Developer to now having stock that's almost worthless.

Remember Space Invaders and Pac-Man? Well, they were the company that licensed those great games. Their benchmark legacy, of course, is Mortal Kombat. Do you think there's any hope for this video game company to ever bounce back?

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Tags: Other People's Misfortune, Videogames

Comment(s)

Posted by Hrolf - Thursday, December 4, 2008 3:11 PM

they will pick back up...I hope.

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Posted by skater1216 - Thursday, December 4, 2008 3:42 PM

they need to make another NHL Hitz, me and my roommates been playin Hitz '03 for about 3 weeks. It's nasty fun

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Posted by Sandrock323 - Thursday, December 4, 2008 3:46 PM

They need a new IP if they want to recover.

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Posted by Nightfirewlf - Thursday, December 4, 2008 3:53 PM

This is terrible. This company has produced so many great games and are one of the reasons I started playing games in the first place. I really hope they can pull it together and step it up. No company other than this one is more deserving of a bailout

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Posted by Thufir85 - Thursday, December 4, 2008 4:03 PM

Midway has sucked since mortal kombat 3 was released. I haven't owned one of their games since the snes, and genesis era. It sucks that their failing, since they were once a legendary publisher, bur those days are long gone. Look at their latest game, it looks like one the dumbest fighting games ever made, ya know they could of made superman some sweet ass fatality's, although that's dc's fault. I hope all their employee's get job's within the industry

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Posted by EJ_Texas_Made - Thursday, December 4, 2008 4:06 PM

Out with the old, in with the new.

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Posted by Thufir85 - Thursday, December 4, 2008 4:12 PM

I forgot about blitz, and hitz.

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Posted by allsouls78 - Thursday, December 4, 2008 4:35 PM

@Sandrock323 A new IP is too little too late to keep them listed given the time it takes to develop games.

Midway screwed the pooch making a T rated Mortal Kombat game, period. It's draw was the over the top, M rated gore and fatalities that drew the media's ire when the first one was released. I understand why they did it, to make the game more accessible to a larger audience who 'couldn't' access an M rated game. But by going T, they turned off many of the core audience that supported the franchise to the point of making another MK game.

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Posted by allsouls78 - Thursday, December 4, 2008 4:37 PM

The other thing you have to look at is that, as everyone's pointing out, Midway is a bastion of arcade classics. Last I checked, outside of Dave and Buster's, arcades are dead for the most part.

If you look at other parts of their catalog like Defender and Super Off-Road, and to a lesser extent, Spy Hunter, Gauntlet, and Psi-Ops, these are all great older IPs that could do reasonably well with next gen, reimaginings. Racing games have a good market, especially off-road and action oriented ones. Gauntlet with horde mobs/AI in the dungeons and online multiplayer? Defender upgraded to a level based, arcade style (that is what they do best, after all) side scrolling shooter? And Psi-Ops? Very cool premise for the original game, why no sequel? We're on what, the 10th RE with RE 5 coming out?

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Posted by magopus6 - Thursday, December 4, 2008 4:39 PM

i used to love Hydro Thunder at the arcades and consoles. They need to do something with the mortal kombat series. They need to go back to their roots.

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Posted by allsouls78 - Thursday, December 4, 2008 4:45 PM

For some quick punch, I'd suggest Midway re-work some old IPs or develop some new ones as XBL/PSN/WiiWare style quick-hit games in the tradition of their older games to get some momentum and stay afloat. As it stands though, I'm kind of skeptical that we'll see Wheelman released this time next year.

It's a much better route than robbing Peter to pay Paul by making sequels unfaithful to their lineage... (that means YOU MK vs. DCU!!!)

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Posted by plato2788 - Thursday, December 4, 2008 5:50 PM

to Nightfirewlf

wrong...no company, not even Midway, is worth of a bailout of FREE money

when business goes south, and you lose money, and your expenses eventually force you to go bankrupt, such is the life businesses, and NOBODY deserves a a handout.

when did this country become the land of entitlement???

to Skater

I have been begging for a new Hitz for years...unfortunately, no new one in site. Perhaps we should mass e-mail them?

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Posted by Minuszero - Thursday, December 4, 2008 6:03 PM

Or perhaps they should just go bankrupt.
They killed the UT franchise! I hope they bankrupt and never return! They have not made a good game since Gauntlet legends.

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Posted by spellshard - Friday, December 5, 2008 6:34 AM

I agree. MK was one of my absolute favorite games of the 16 bit era. It was revolutionary, and in people's faces. Who doesn't remember heated battles with the local arcade master, only to be told when it was your turn "you can play anyone but scorpion"???

It's a damned shame. I would not touch the new MK, period, and I was practically obsessed with the franchise back in the day.

I say let them sink. If they can't care enough about their business to release a quality product, nobody else should either. It's called capitalism, and may the best IP win.

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Posted by drieva - Friday, December 5, 2008 9:08 AM

They should make some of there earlier titles for dlc that b auwsome i d buy,there great still love the original blitz and pac man is like the guru of gaming.

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Posted by drieva - Friday, December 5, 2008 9:09 AM

hope they make a comeback,there legendary never gessed this would happerned

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Posted by Silky08 - Friday, December 5, 2008 9:30 AM

Midway? More like Noway!
LOL

*Sigh* I'm too smart for my own good

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Posted by GreedyMcNasty - Friday, December 5, 2008 9:31 AM

I love that they are bleeding out right in front of us and we won't give them a hand. I want the company to go bankrupt and all there employee's can eat a hand full of crap. I think Ed Boon should have to give back all the money he has made in the last 5 years then be killed on pay perview. The death of MK and all because you wanted to gobble up some DC mushroom soup. I am looking forward to the company closing there doors. Serves them right.....DIE midway DIE!! Quit trying to hang on nobody cares just DIE and let us remember the good times of MK2 as a long forgotten time of good games.

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Posted by Bahamet678 - Friday, December 5, 2008 10:06 AM

Midway has produced goo games, but the merger of the DC universe and MK chopped thier balls off. Going from M rated to T rated just to get a larger audience is not worth losing the awsomeness of fatalities.

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