PWTorch.com - TNA News: Midway, developer of TNA Impact video game, trying to stabilize and stay in business

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TNA News
TNA News: Midway, developer of TNA Impact video game, trying to stabilize and stay in business

Oct 30, 2008 - 2:51:04 PM

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By James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist

Shares of Midway Games, the developer behind the TNA Impact video game, have been trading around $0.75 per share for the past week while analysts and investors have speculated on the future of the company.

Midway recently reported losses of $68.8 million this year and the current quarter will lead to even worse results, according to a BusinessWeek story.

The key is that major investor Sumner Redstone, of Viacom and CBS fame, owns an 88 percent share of Midway and he has seen his investment value decline from $1.8 billion to a mere $62 million.

Redstone has been forced to sell off the company's debt after Midway reported a five-year loss of $493.7 million. Another Redstone company, National Amusements, is picking up $130 million of the debt.

Today, Midway issued a press release announcing that interim CEO Matt Booty has been promoted to full-time CEO. The company said Booty's permanent status is credited to his success "reducing costs" and "rebalancing the product portfolio" to focus on TNA Impact, Blitz, and Mortal Kombat series.

Caldwell's Analysis: The reason why this story is important is because TNA was banking on Midway to develop a line of TNA video games, similar to the annual Smackdown vs. Raw series that THQ develops. TNA hoped the first video game release, which came in below financial expectations, would be something to build on for future years to build an entire franchise.

Midway's current volatility and the dedication, or lack thereof, from Redstone will determine the future of the company. Midway naming Booty as permanent CEO is a nice gesture to investors that the company is trying to create stability, but the key will be the company being able to reduce costs long-term.

Link: Gamasutra story link and BusinessWeek article.

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