Midway has posted a press release today announcing a timeframe for a section 363 sale of their assets including Mortal Kombat.

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. Following this hearing, there will be a period during which Midway, through its financial advisor, Lazard, will accept binding offers up to June 24th, 2009, to acquire some or all of the Company's assets. An auction will be held on June 29th to determine the bid or combination of bids that achieves the highest value, followed by a court hearing to approve the sale to the winning bidder or bidders on July 1st, and then a final closing. All bids must comply with the bid procedures order to be issued at the hearing on June 2, 2009.

To view the press release in full, click here.

As more information becomes available we will bring it to you. Our thanks to forum member for the lead on this story.

The struggling Mortal Kombat developer Midway Games has received an offer to buy "substantially all" of the US property owned by the company. This does indeed include Midway's lead, as well a number of other titles:

Midway Games said Thursday it has a bid from Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. to buy "substantially all" of the video-game maker's U.S. assets for $33 million, including the company's Mortal Kombat franchise and its development studios in Chicago and Seattle.

Midway filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February and had told the court it was evaluating offers from parties interested in acquiring its assets. Warner Bros. is a "stalking horse" bidder, meaning that Midway chose the company from a pool of bidders and the $33 million offer sets the floor for future bids. There will now be a court-supervised auction where other qualified buyers can make their own offers.

"The process is intended to achieve the highest value possible for the Company's stakeholders," Midway said Thursday.

Midway said it has filed a sale and bid procedures motion with the bankruptcy court to initiate these proceedings.

We'll keep you posted, as the legal processes are still ongoing and have a long way to go before a true resolution is reached. To view this article at the Chicago Tribune's website, click here.

Kotaku also picked up the story.

Thanks to and for the lead on this story.

According to gaming industry trade magazine MCV, Warner Bros. is preparing to bid on purchasing Midway. According to their sources, Warner Bros. is particularly interested in the Mortal Kombat and Stranglehold properties (the latter being the official sequel to Hard Boiled, a popular Hong Kong action movie), in addition to the "retro" franchises such as Gauntlet and Joust. It should go without saying that there is already a history between Midway and Warner Bros.; DC Comics is another of Warner Bros.'s companies. From the article:

It is thought that the LEGO publisher is particularly keen to acquire Midway’s flagship Mortal Kombat and Stranglehold franchises, as well as its retro IP such as Gauntlet, Joust and Galaga – and a modern casual game roster including Game Party and Touchmaster.

MCV understands that Midway is keen for Warner to match its target sale price of $30m (£20.6m) – but that it may yet sell off its owned IP and studios separately.

A source close to Midway told MCV: "Warner is pretty confident that they will get Midway – which will be an immediate boost to their portfolio. The deal isn’t done yet. Midway is still open to offers from other potential buyers – but Warner looks to be favourite to wrap it up. They look ready to put the money on the table."

To read the story in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to forum member for letting us know about this news story!

Looks like Kotaku.com is really spinning the rumor mill lately. Here's the latest piece of news:

With Midway in the middle of troublesome bankruptcy proceedings and rumors of the Mortal Kombat dev team leaving, it's a little surprising to learn that not one, but three companies are considering buying the company.

According to our sources, Warner Brothers, Ubisoft and a private Chicago investor are all looking over the company for possible acquisition.

We're told that Ubisoft has been in talks with Midway for weeks now and that a vice president for Warner Bros. was visiting the studio just last week.

Reached for comment this morning, a Midway rep said the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.

If our sources are correct, than Warner Bros. is the most likely candidate for a possible purchase.

Keep in mind that it's still possible that another company could theoretically purchase the MK license specifically before any such acquisition does go through.

To read the article in its entirety, click here. A big thanks go to , , and for the word on this update.

Gaming news and rumor website Kotaku is reporting that the key group of developers involved with Mortal Kombat projects is possibly seeking a studio of their own, on a publisher other than Midway. From the article:

Midway's team of developers responsible for the 17-year-old Mortal Kombat franchise is currently in active talks with other publishers to leave the company and for its own studio, sources tell Kotaku.

The MK team, which comprises about 50 developers, is said to be in discussions with a handful of unnamed publishers, with senior members of the group handling negotiations for a possible exodus from Midway. According to Midway sources who wished to remain anonymous, one of the catalysts for the move is a lack of payment in bonuses due to MK team members based on meeting Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe sales targets.

Sources said that the Mortal Kombat team has become increasingly "frustrated" with the handling of Midway's bankruptcy filing. MK staffers also expressed irritation from being in the position of delivering million unit-selling titles on time and on a bi-annual schedule while other projects at the company languish in development.

An important aspect to this revelation would be what would become of the Mortal Kombat license, and whether or not its creators would be able to take it with them to another publisher. Whatever the outcome of this situation, we will keep you posted on the latest developments in this ongoing story.

To read the article in full, click here.

Thanks to forum member for the lead on this story!