| MUMBAI:
Finding that there are no other bidders for Midway Games, Warner Bros. has bought
most of the company's assets for $33 million including the Mortal Kombat franchise
as well as the company's legacy arcade games such as Joust and Spy Hunter.
The
bankruptcy judge overseeing the sale apparently wasn't swayed by Threshold Entertainment's
argument that film producer Larry Kasanoff was the driving creative force in the
franchise.
A
couple of studios that Warner opted not to buy will be shut down in just under
two months if no bidders emerge for them. The Newcastle studio has worked on the
Wheelman franchise while the San Diego studio has created the TNA games. Warner
had the purchase rights to the Wheelman games but not the development studio behind
it.
Warner
has been beefing up its video game division steadily over the last few years and
has managed to assemble some talented teams. It should be interesting to see what
they do with some of the licenses they now own. | 
