CHICAGO - Midway Games Inc., best known for its "Mortal Kombat" video games, said Thursday that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Midway said the filing stemmed from a change in ownership in late 2008 that led to accelerated buyback requirements related to two classes of debt that the company did not think it could fulfill.

In December, media mogul Sumner Redstone sold his majority stake in Midway — an interest of about 87.2 percent — to a company led by private investor Mark Thomas.

In a statement, Midway Chief Executive and President Matt Booty called the bankruptcy filing a "difficult but necessary decision."

"We have been focused on realigning our operations and improving our execution, and this filing will relieve the immediate pressure from our creditors and provide us time for an orderly exploration of our strategic alternatives," he said.

Midway said that it and its U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Midway said the filing does not include its operations outside the U.S., and that they will continue to operate as normal.

The company is seeking several first-day motions so it can continue to operate normally.

Midway shares fell 10 cents, or 40 percent, to 15 cents in morning trading.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090212/ap_on_hi_te/midway_games_bankruptcy

Dun dun dun

well i hope they come out of it ok i hate it when people lose there jobs and publishers go out of business

When falling 10 cents=40 percent, you know you're screwed.

It's such a shame. They were pretty good in the 90's I guess.

FINISH THEM

Christopher Lambert reacted to the news with an expression of deep sorrow. That actually isn't different from every other expression of his, as he have one less than Schwartzy, that's one, so nobody noticed (while since he does comedy too, Ah-nuld has a whopping total of two, "smiling" and "not smiling").

Their assets and name will get acquired by someone, if needed. They have value. It is just they seem to have fallen behind the times. The cycle of videogames consumes companies and spits them out. Old companies go away, new ones are born.

Mortal Kombat vs Tekken on the books then?  Of course, one may fear that Microsoft buy them and turn Mortal Kombat into a 360 exclusive.  Actually, not sure who would fear this.

At this rate the only 2 companies left in 5 years will be Activision and Nintendo.

And I will be long gone from gaming if that happens.